Correction: Influence of the primary and secondary coordination spheres on nitric oxide adsorption and reactivity in cobalt(ii)–triazolate frameworks

Correction for ‘Influence of the primary and secondary coordination spheres on nitric oxide adsorption and reactivity in cobalt(ii)–triazolate frameworks’ by Julia Oktawiec et al., Chem. Sci., 2021, DOI: 10.1039/d1sc03994f.

The authors regret that incorrect details were given for ref. 35, 37 and 59 in the original article. The correct versions of ref. 35, 37 and 59 are given below as ref. 1, 2 and 3, respectively.The Royal Society of Chemistry apologises for these errors and any consequent inconvenience to authors and readers.     

Electrooxidative o-carborane chalcogenations without directing groups: cage activation by copper catalysis at room temperature

Copper-catalyzed electrochemical direct chalcogenations of o-carboranes was established at room temperature. Thereby, a series of cage C-sulfenylated and C-selenylated o-carboranes anchored with valuable functional groups was accessed with high levels of position- and chemo-selectivity control. The cupraelectrocatalysis provided efficient means to activate otherwise inert cage C–H bonds for the late-stage diversification of o-carboranes.

Copper-catalyzed electrochemical cage C–H chalcogenation of o-carboranes has been realized to enable the synthesis of various cage C-sulfenylated and C-selenylated o-carboranes.

Carboranes are polyhedral molecular boron–carbon clusters, which display unique properties, such as a boron enriched content, icosahedron geometry and three-dimensional electronic delocalization.¹ These features render carboranes as valuable building blocks for applications to optoelectronics,² as nanomaterials, in supramolecular design,³ organometallic coordination chemistry,⁴ and boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) agents.⁵ As a consequence, considerable progress has been witnessed in transition metal-catalyzed regioselective cage B–H functionalization of o-carboranes⁶ and different functional motifs have been incorporated into the cage boron vertices.^7–10 However, progress in this research arena continues to be considerably limited by the shortage of robust and efficient methods to access carborane-functionalized molecules. While C–S bonds are important structural motifs in various biologically active molecules and functional materials,¹¹ strategies for the assembly of chalcogen-substituted carboranes continue to be scarce. A major challenge is hence represented by the strong coordination abilities of thiols to most transition metals, which often lead to catalyst deactivation.¹² While copper-catalyzed B(4,5)–H disulfenylation of o-carboranes was achieved,^7e elevated reaction temperature was required, and 8-aminoquinoline was necessary as bidentate directing group. The bidentate directing group¹³ needs to be installed and removed, which jeopardizes the overall efficacy. Likewise, an organometallic strategy was recently devised for cysteine borylation with a stoichiometric platinum(ii)-based carboranes.¹⁴ Meanwhile, oxidative cage B/C–H functionalizations largely call for noble transition metal catalysts¹⁵ and stoichiometric amounts of chemical oxidants, such as expensive silver(i) salts.¹⁶In recent years, electricity has been identified as an increasingly viable, sustainable redox equivalent for environmentally-benign molecular synthesis.^17,18 While significant advances have been realized by the merger of electrocatalysis with organometallic bond activation,¹⁹ electrochemical carborane functionalizations continue unfortunately to be underdevelopment. In sharp contrast, we have now devised a strategy for unprecedented copper-catalyzed electrochemical cage C–H chalcogenations of o-carboranes in a dehydrogenative manner, assembling a variety of C-sulfenylated and C-selenylated o-carboranes (Fig. 1a). It is noteworthy that our electrochemical cage C–S/Se modification approach is devoid of chemical oxidants, and does not need any directing groups, operative at room temperature.Open in a separate windowFig. 1Electrochemical diversification of o-carboranes and optimization of reaction conditions. ^aReaction conditions: procedure A: 1a (0.10 mmol), 2a (0.3 mmol), CuOAc (15 mol%), 2-PhPy (15 mol%), LiOtBu (0.2 mmol), TBAI (2.0 equiv.), solvent (3 mL), platinum cathode (10 mm × 15 mm × 0.25 mm), graphite felt (GF) anode (10 mm × 15 mm × 6 mm), 2 mA, under air, r.t., 16 h. ^bYield was determined by ¹H NMR with CH₂Br₂ as the internal standard. ^cIsolated yields in parenthesis. ^dKI (1.0 equiv.) as additive. ^eProcedure B: 2 (0.3 mmol), LiOtBu (0.2 mmol), TBAI (2.0 equiv.), solvent (3.0 mL), 2 mA, r.t., 3 h, then adding 1a (0.10 mmol), 2-PhPy (15 mol%), CuOAc (15 mol%), 2 mA, rt, 16 h. ^f2b (0.3 mmol), LiOtBu (0.2 mmol), KI (1.0 equiv.), TBAI (2.0 equiv.), solvent (3.0 mL), 2 mA, r.t., 3 h, then adding 1a (0.10 mmol), 2-PhPy (15 mol%), CuOAc (15 mol%), r.t., 16 h. TBAI = tetrabutylammonium iodide, TBAPF₆ = tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate. DCE = 1,2-dichloroethane, THF = tetrahydrofuran.We commenced our studies by probing various reaction conditions for the envisioned copper-catalyzed cage C–H thiolation of o-carborane in an operationally simple undivided cell setup equipped with a GF (graphite felt) anode and a Pt cathode (Fig. 1b and Table S1^†). After extensive experimentation, we observed that the thiolation of substrate 1 proceeded efficiently with catalytic amounts of CuOAc and 2-phenylpyridine, albeit in the presence of 2 equivalents LiOtBu as the base, and 2 equivalents n-Bu₄NI as the electrolyte at room temperature under a constant current of 2 mA (entry 1). The yield was reduced when other copper sources or additives were used (entries 2–5). Surprisingly, n-Bu₄NPF₆ as the electrolyte failed to facilitate the carborane modification, indicating that n-Bu₄NI operates not only as electrolyte, but also as a redox mediator (entry 6). Altering the stoichiometry of the electrolyte or using KI did not improve the performance (entries 7–8). Product formation was not observed, when the reaction was conducted with DCE as the solvent, while CH₃CN resulted in a drop of the catalytic performance (entries 9–10). Control experiments confirmed the essential role of the electricity and the catalyst (entries 11–12), while a sequential procedure was found to be beneficial (entries 13–15).With the optimized reaction conditions in hand, we explored the versatility of the cage C–H thiolation of o-carborane 1a with different thiols 2 (Scheme 1). Electron-rich as well as electron-deficient substituents on the arenes were found to be amenable to the electrocatalyzed C–H activation, providing the corresponding thiolation products 3aa–3ao in good to excellent yields. Thereby, a variety of synthetically useful functional groups, such as fluoro (3ae, 3am), chloro (3af, 3ak, 3an) and bromo (3ag, 3al), were fully tolerated, which should prove instrumental for further late-stage manipulations. Various disubstituted aromatic and heterocyclic thiols afforded the corresponding cage C–S modified products 3ap–3as. Notably, aliphatic thiols efficiently underwent the electrochemical transformation to provide the corresponding cage alkylthiolated products 3at–3au. Notably, the halogen-containing thiols (2e–2f, 2k–2n and 2q) reacted selectively with o-carboranes to deliver the desired products without halide coupling byproducts being observed. The connectivity of the products 3aa, 3am and 3ao was unambiguously verified by X-ray single crystal diffraction analysis.²²Open in a separate windowScheme 1Electrochemical C–H thiolation of o-carborane 1a. (a) Procedure B. (b) KI (1 equiv.). (c) Cul as the catalyst.Encouraged by the efficiency of the cupraelectro-oxidative cage C–H thiolation, we became intrigued to explore the chalcogenantion of differently-decorated o-carboranes 1 (Scheme 2). Electronically diverse carboranes 1 served as competent coupling partners, giving the corresponding thiolation products 4bo–4do with high levels of efficacy in position-selective manner. The strategy was not restricted to phenyl-substituted o-carboranes. Indeed, substrates bearing benzyl and even alkyl groups also performed well to deliver the desired products 4eo–4ga. It is noteworthy that the C–H activation approach was also compatible with selenols to give the o-carboranes 4av–4fv. The molecular structures of the carborane 4br and 4av were unambiguously verified by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.²²Open in a separate windowScheme 2Electrochemical cage C–H chalcogenation of o-carboranes. (a) Procedure B. (b) KI (1 equiv.).Scaffold functionalization of the thus obtained carborane 3ag provided the alkynylated derivative 5a and amine 5b (Scheme 3), giving access to carborane-based host materials of relevant to phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes.²⁰Open in a separate windowScheme 3Late-stage diversification.Next, we became attracted to delineating the mode of the cupraelectro-catalyzed cage C–H chalcogenation. To this end, control experiments were performed (Scheme 4a). First, electrocatalysis in the presence of TEMPO or Ph₂C CH₂ gave the desired product 3aa. EPR studies of thiol 2a, LiOtBu and THF under the electrochemical conditions showed a small radical signal, which might be attributed to a thiol radical.²¹ Second, the cupraelectrocatalysis occurred efficiently in the dark. Third, detailed cyclovoltammetric analysis of the thiol and iodide mediator (Scheme 4b and ESI^†)²¹ revealed an irreversible oxidation of the thiol anion at E_p = −0.62 V vs. Ag/Ag⁺ and two oxidation events for the iodide, including an irreversible oxidation at E_p = 0.12 V vs. Ag/Ag⁺ and a reversible oxidation at E_p = 0.44 V vs. Ag/Ag⁺, which is in good agreement with the literature reported iodide oxidation potentials,^18c,d and is suggestive of the preferential oxidation of the iodide as a redox mediator. In this context, the use of n-Bu₄NI as a redox mediator to achieve copper-catalyzed electrochemical arene C–H aminations had been documented.^18d Furthermore, we calculated the redox potential of complex C by means of DFT calculations at the PW6B95-D4/def2-TZVP + SMD(MeCN)//TPSS-D3BJ/def2-SVP level of theory.²¹ These studies revealed a calculated oxidation half-wave potential for complex C is E^o,calc_1/2 = −0.08 V vs. SCE. Hence, iodide is a competent redox mediator to achieve the transformation from complex C to complex D. Analysis of non-covalent interactions²¹ in complex C (Fig. 2) show the presence of a weak stabilization interaction between the chalcogen''s anisole group and the 2-phenylpyridine. In contrast, in complex D these interactions were found more relevant between the o-carborane phenyl group and the chalcogen aromatic motif.Open in a separate windowFig. 2Non-covalent interaction plots for the complexes C and D. Strong attractive interactions are shown in blue, weak attractive interactions are given in green, while red corresponds to repulsive interactions. Ar = 4-MeOC₆H₄.Open in a separate windowScheme 4Control experiments and cyclic voltammograms.On the basis of the aforementioned findings,¹⁸ a plausible reaction mechanism is proposed in Scheme 5, which commences with an anodic single electron-transfer (SET) oxidation of the thiol anion E to form the sulfur-centered radical F. Subsequently, the copper(i) species A reacts with the sulfur radical F to deliver copper(ii) complex B, which next reacts with o-carborane 1 in the presence of LiOtBu to generate a copper(ii)-o-carborane complex C. Thereafter, the complex C is oxidized by the anodically generated redox mediator I₂ to furnish the copper(iii) species D,^18d which subsequently undergoes reductive elimination, affording the final product and regenerating the catalytically active complex A. Alternatively, the direct oxidation of copper(ii) complex C by electricity to generate copper(iii) species D can not be excluded at this stage.^18a,bOpen in a separate windowScheme 5Proposed reaction mechanism.In conclusion, a sustainable electrocatalytic C–H chalcogenation of o-carboranes with thiols and selenols was realized at room temperature by earth abundant copper catalysis. The C–H activation was characterized by mild reaction conditions and high functional group tolerance, leading to the facile assembly of various o-carboranes. Thereby, a transformative platform for the design of cage C–S and C–Se o-carboranes was established that avoids chemical oxidants by environmentally-sound electricity in the absence of directing groups. A plausible mechanism of paired electrolysis was established by detailed mechanistic studies.     

A Paal–Knorr agent for chemoproteomic profiling of targets of isoketals in cells

Natural systems produce various γ-dicarbonyl-bearing compounds that can covalently modify lysine in protein targets via the classic Paal–Knorr reaction. Among them is a unique class of lipid-derived electrophiles – isoketals that exhibit high chemical reactivity and critical biological functions. However, their target selectivity and profiles in complex proteomes remain unknown. Here we report a Paal–Knorr agent, 4-oxonon-8-ynal (herein termed ONAyne), for surveying the reactivity and selectivity of the γ-dicarbonyl warhead in biological systems. Using an unbiased open-search strategy, we demonstrated the lysine specificity of ONAyne on a proteome-wide scale and characterized six probe-derived modifications, including the initial pyrrole adduct and its oxidative products (i.e., lactam and hydroxylactam adducts), an enlactam adduct from dehydration of hydroxylactam, and two chemotypes formed in the presence of endogenous formaldehyde (i.e., fulvene and aldehyde adducts). Furthermore, combined with quantitative chemoproteomics in a competitive format, ONAyne permitted global, in situ, and site-specific profiling of targeted lysine residues of two specific isomers of isoketals, levuglandin (LG) D2 and E2. The functional analyses reveal that LG-derived adduction drives inhibition of malate dehydrogenase MDH2 and exhibits a crosstalk with two epigenetic marks on histone H2B in macrophages. Our approach should be broadly useful for target profiling of bioactive γ-dicarbonyls in diverse biological contexts.

Natural systems produce various γ-dicarbonyl-bearing compounds that can covalently modify lysine in protein targets via the classic Paal–Knorr reaction.

Synthetic chemistry methods have been increasingly underscored by their potential to be repurposed as biocompatible methods for both chemical biology and drug discovery. The most-known examples of such a repurposing approach include the Staudinger ligation¹ and the Huisgen-based click chemistry.² Moreover, bioconjugation of cysteine and lysine can be built upon facile chemical processes,³ while chemoselective labelling of other polar residues (e.g., histidine,⁴ methionine,⁵ tyrosine,⁶ aspartic and glutamic acids^7,8) requires more elaborate chemistry, thereby offering a powerful means to study the structure and function of proteins, even at a proteome-wide scale.The classical Paal–Knorr reaction has been reported for a single-step pyrrole synthesis in 1884.^9,10 The reaction involves the condensation of γ-dicarbonyl with a primary amine under mild conditions (e.g., room temperature, mild acid) to give pyrrole through the intermediary hemiaminals followed by rapid dehydration of highly unstable pyrrolidine adducts (Fig. S1^†).Interestingly, we and others have recently demonstrated that the Paal–Knorr reaction can also readily take place in native biological systems.^11–13 More importantly, the Paal–Knorr precursor γ-dicarbonyl resides on many endogenous metabolites and bioactive natural products.¹⁴ Among them of particular interest are isoketals¹⁵ (IsoKs, also known as γ-ketoaldehydes) which are a unique class of lipid derived electrophiles (LDEs) formed from lipid peroxidation (Fig. S2^†)¹⁶ that has emerged as an important mechanism for cells to regulate redox signalling and inflammatory responses,¹⁷ and drive ferroptosis,¹⁸ and this field has exponentially grown over the past few years. It has been well documented that the γ-dicarbonyl group of IsoKs can rapidly and predominantly react with lysine via the Paal–Knorr reaction to form a pyrrole adduct in vitro (Fig. 1).¹⁵ Further, the pyrrole formed by IsoKs can be easily oxidized to yield lactam and hydroxylactam products in the presence of molecular oxygen (Fig. 1). These rapid reactions are essentially irreversible. Hence, IsoKs react with protein approximately two orders of magnitude faster than the most-studied LDE 4-hydoxynonenal (4-HNE) that contains α,β-unsaturated carbonyl to generally adduct protein cysteines by Michael addition (Fig. S3^†).¹⁵ Due to this unique adduction chemistry and rapid reactivity, IsoKs exhibit intriguing biological activities, including inhibition of the nucleosome complex formation,¹⁹ high-density lipoprotein function,²⁰ mitochondrial respiration and calcium homeostasis,²¹ as well as activation of hepatic stellate cells.²² Furthermore, increases in IsoK-protein adducts have been identified in many major diseases,²³ such as atherosclerosis, Alzheimer''s disease, hypertension and so on.Open in a separate windowFig. 1The Paal–Knorr precursor γ-dicarbonyl reacts with the lysine residue on proteins to form diverse chemotypes via two pathways. The red arrow shows the oxidation pathway, while the blue one shows the formaldehyde pathway.Despite the chemical uniqueness, biological significance, and pathophysiological relevance of IsoKs, their residue selectivity and target profiles in complex proteomes remain unknown, hampering the studies of their mechanisms of action (MoAs). Pioneered by the Cravatt group, the competitive ABPP (activity-based protein profiling) has been the method of choice to analyse the molecular interactions between electrophiles (e.g., LDEs,²⁴ oncometabolites,²⁵ natural products,^26,27 covalent ligands and drugs^28–30) and nucleophilic amino acids across complex proteomes. In this regard, many residue-specific chemistry methods and probes have been developed for such studies. For example, several lysine-specific probes based on the activated ester warheads (e.g., sulfotetrafluorophenyl, STP;³¹N-hydroxysuccinimide, NHS³²) have recently been developed to analyse electrophile–lysine interactions at a proteome-wide scale in human tumour cells, which provides rich resources of ligandable sites for covalent probes and potential therapeutics. Although these approaches can also be presumably leveraged to globally and site-specifically profile lysine-specific targets IsoKs, the reaction kinetics and target preference of activated ester-based probes likely differ from those of γ-dicarbonyls, possibly resulting in misinterpretation of ABPP competition results. Ideally, a lysine profiling probe used for a competitive ABPP analysis of IsoKs should therefore possess the same, or at least a similar, warhead moiety. Furthermore, due to the lack of reactive carbonyl groups on IsoK-derived protein adducts, several recently developed carbonyl-directed ligation probes for studying LDE-adductions are also not suitable for target profiling of IsoKs.^33,34Towards this end, we sought to design a “clickable” γ-dicarbonyl probe for profiling lysine residues and, in combination with the competitive ABPP strategy, for analysing IsoK adductions in native proteomes. Considering that the diversity of various regio- and stereo- IsoK isomers¹⁵ (a total of 64, Fig. S2^†) in chemical reactivity and bioactivities is likely attributed to the substitution of γ-dicarbonyls at positions 2 and 3, the “clickable” alkyne handle needs to be rationally implemented onto the 4-methyl group in order to minimize the biases when competing with IsoKs in target engagement. Interestingly, we reasoned that 4-oxonon-8-ynal, a previously reported Paal–Knorr agent used as an intermediate for synthesizing fatty acid probes³⁵ or oxa-tricyclic compounds,³⁶ could be repurposed for the γ-dicarbonyl-directed ABPP application. With this chemical in hand (herein termed ONAyne, Fig. 2A), we first used western blotting to detect its utility in labelling proteins, allowing visualization of a dose-dependent labelling of the proteome in situ (Fig. S4^†). Next, we set up to incorporate this probe into a well-established chemoproteomic workflow for site-specific lysine profiling in situ (Fig. 2A). Specifically, intact cells were labelled with ONAyne in situ (200 μM, 2 h, 37 °C, a condition showing little cytotoxicity, Fig. S5^†), and the probe-labelled proteome was harvested and processed into tryptic peptides. The resulting probe-labelled peptides were conjugated with both light and heavy azido-UV-cleavable-biotin reagents (1 : 1) via Cu^I-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition reaction (CuAAC, also known as click chemistry). The biotinylated peptides were enriched with streptavidin beads and photoreleased for LC-MS/MS-based proteomics. The ONAyne-labelled peptides covalently conjugated with light and heavy tags would yield an isotopic signature. We considered only those modified peptide assignments whose MS1 data reflected a light/heavy ratio close to 1.0, thereby increasing the accuracy of these peptide identifications. Using this criterium, we applied a targeted database search to profile three expected probe-derived modifications (PDMs), including 13 pyrrole peptide adducts (Δ273.15), 77 lactam peptide adducts (Δ289.14), and 557 hydroxylactam peptide adducts (Δ305.14), comprising 585 lysine residues on 299 proteins (Fig. S6 and S7^†). Among them, the hydroxylactam adducts were present predominately, since the pyrrole formed by this probe, the same as IsoKs, can be easily oxidized when being exposed to O₂. This finding was in accordance with a previous report where the pyrrole adducts formed by the reaction between IsoK and free lysine could not be detected, but rather their oxidized forms.³⁷ Regardless, all three types of adducts were found in one lysine site of EF1A1 (K387, Fig. S8^†), further confirming the intrinsic relationship among those adductions in situ.Open in a separate windowFig. 2Adduct profile and proteome-wide selectivity of the γ-dicarbonyl probe ONAyne. (A) Chemical structure of ONAyne and schematic workflow for identifying ONAyne-adducted sites across the proteome. (B) Bar chart showing the distribution of six types of ONAyne-derived modifications formed in situ and in vitro (note: before probe labelling, small molecules in cell lysates were filtered out through desalting columns).State-of-the-art blind search can offer an opportunity to explore unexpected chemotypes (i.e., modifications) derived from a chemical probe and to unbiasedly assess its proteome-wide residue selectivity.^38,39 We therefore sought to use one of such tools termed pChem³⁸ to re-analyse the MS data (see Methods, ESI^†). Surprisingly, the pChem search identified three new and abundant PDMs (Fig. 1 and Table S1^†), which dramatically expand the ONAyne-profiled lysinome (2305 sites versus 585 sites). Overall, these newly identified PDMs accounted for 74.6% of all identifications (Fig. 2B and Table S2^†). Among them, the PDM of Δ287.13 (Fig. 1 and S7^†) might be an enlactam product via dehydration of the probe-derived hydroxylactam adduct. The other two might be explained by the plausible mechanism as follows (Fig. 1). The endogenous formaldehyde (FA, produced in substantial quantities in biological systems) reacts with the probe-derived pyrrole adduct via nucleophilic addition to form a carbinol intermediate, followed by rapid dehydration to a fulvene (Δ285.15, Fig. S7^†) and immediate oxidation to an aldehyde (Δ301.14, Fig. S7^†). In line with this mechanism, the amount of FA-derived PDMs was largely eliminated when the in vitro ONAyne labelling was performed in the FA-less cell lysates (Fig. 2B and Table S3^†). Undoubtedly, the detailed mechanisms underlying the formation of these unexpected PDMs require further investigation, and so does the reaction kinetics. Regardless, all main PDMs from ONAyne predominantly target the lysine residue with an average localization probability of 0.77, demonstrating their proteome-wide selectivity (Fig. S9^†).Next, we adapted an ABPP approach to globally and site-specifically quantify the reactivity of lysine towards the γ-dicarbonyl warhead through a dose-dependent labelling strategy (Fig. 3A) that has been proved to be successful for other lysine-specific probes (e.g., STP alkyne).³¹ Specifically, MDA-MB-231 cell lysates were treated with low versus high concentrations of ONAyne (1 mM versus 0.1 mM) for 1 h. Probe-labelled proteomes were digested into tryptic peptides that were then conjugated to isotopically labelled biotin tags via CuAAC for enrichment, identification and quantification. In principle, hyperreactive lysine would saturate labelling at the low probe concentration, whereas less reactive ones would show concentration-dependent increases in labelling. For fair comparison, the STP alkyne-based lysine profiling data were generated by using the same chemoproteomic workflow. Although 77.5% (3207) ONAyne-adducted lysine sites can also be profiled by STP alkyne-based analysis, the former indeed has its distinct target-profile with 930 lysine sites newly identified (Fig. S10 and Table S4^†). Interestingly, sequence motif analysis with pLogo⁴⁰ revealed a significant difference in consensus motifs between ONAyne- and STP alkyne-targeting lysines (Fig. S11^†).Open in a separate windowFig. 3ONAyne-based quantitative reactivity profiling of proteomic lysines. (A) Schematic workflow for quantitative profiling of ONAyne–lysine reactions using the dose-dependent ABPP strategy (B) Box plots showing the distribution of R_10:1 values quantified in ONAyne- and STP alkyne-based ABPP analyses, respectively. Red lines showing the median values. ***p ≤ 0.001 two-tailed Student''s t-test. (C) Representative extracted ion chromatograms (XICs) showing changes in the EF1A1 peptide bearing K273 that is adducted as indicated, with the profiles for light and heavy-labelled peptides in blue and red, respectively.Moreover, we quantified the ratio (R_{1 mM:0.1 mM}) for a total of 2439 ONAyne-tagged lysines (on 922 proteins) and 17904 STP alkyne-tagged lysines (on 4447 proteins) across three biological replicates (Fig. S12 and Table S5^†). Strikingly, only 26.7% (651) of quantified sites exhibited nearly dose-dependent increases (R_{1 mM:0.1 mM} > 5.0) in reactivity with ONAyne, an indicative of dose saturation (Fig. 3B and C). In contrast, such dose-dependent labelling events accounted for >69.1% of all quantified lysine sites in the STP alkyne-based ABPP analysis.³¹ This finding is in accordance with the extremely fast kinetics of reaction between lysine and γ-dicarbonyls (prone to saturation). Nonetheless, by applying 10-fold lower probe concentrations, overall 1628 (80.2%) detected lysines could be labelled in a fully concentration-dependent manner with the median R_10:1 value of 8.1 (Fig. 3B, C, S12 and Table S5^†). Next, we asked whether the dose-depending quantitation data (100 μM versus 10 μM) can be harnessed to predict functionality. By retrieving the functional information for all quantified lysines from the UniProt Knowledgebase, we found that those hyper-reactive lysines could not be significantly over-represented with annotation (Fig. S12^†). Nonetheless, among all quantified lysines, 509 (25.1%) possess functional annotations, while merely 2.5% of the human lysinome can be annotated. Moreover, 381 (74.8%) ONAyne-labelled sites are known targets of various enzymatic post-translational modifications (PTMs), such as acetylation, succinylation, methylation and so on (Fig. S13^†). In contrast, all known PTM sites accounted for only 59.6% of the annotated human lysinome. These findings therefore highlight the intrinsic reactivity of ONAyne towards the ‘hot spots’ of endogenous lysine PTMs.The aforementioned results validate ONAyne as a fit-for-purpose lysine-specific chemoproteomic probe for competitive isoTOP-ABPP application of γ-dicarbonyl target profiling. Inspired by this, we next applied ONAyne-based chemoproteomics in an in situ competitive format (Fig. 4A) to globally profile lysine sites targeted by a mixture of levuglandin (LG) D₂ and E₂, two specific isomers of IsoKs that can be synthesized conveniently from prostaglandin H₂ (ref. 41) (Fig. S2^†). Specifically, mouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells (a well-established model cell line to study LDE-induced inflammatory effects) were treated with 2 μM LGs or vehicle (DMSO) for 2 h, followed by ONAyne labelling for an additional 2 h. The probe-labelled proteomes were processed as mentioned above. For each lysine detected in this analysis, we calculated a control/treatment ratio (R_C/T). Adduction of a lysine site by LGs would reduce its accessibility to the ONAyne probe, and thus a higher R_C/T indicates increased adduction. In total, we quantified 2000 lysine sites on 834 proteins across five biological replicates. Among them, 102 (5.1%) sites exhibited decreases of reactivity towards LGs treatment (P < 0.05, Table S6^†), thereby being considered as potential targets of LGs. Notably, we found that different lysines on the same proteins showed varying sensitivity towards LGs (e.g., LGs targeted K3 of thioredoxin but not K8, K85 and K94, Table S6^†), an indicative of changes in reactivity, though we could not formally exclude the effects of changes in protein expression on the quantified competition ratios. Regardless, to the best of our knowledge, the proteome-wide identification of potential protein targets by IsoKs/LGs has not been possible until this work.Open in a separate windowFig. 4ONAyne-based in situ competitive ABPP uncovers functional targets of LGs in macrophages. (A) Schematic workflow for profiling LGs–lysine interactions using ONAyne-based in situ competitive ABPP. (B) Volcano plot showing the log₂ values of the ratio between the control (heavy) and LGs-treated (light) channels and the −log₁₀(P) of the statistical significance in a two-sample t-test for all quantified lysines. Potential targets of LGs are shown in blue (R_C/T>1.2, P < 0.05), with the validated ones in red. (C) Bar chart showing the inhibitory effect of 2 μM LGs on the cellular enzymatic activity of MDH2. Data represent means ± standard deviation (n = 3). Statistical significance was calculated with two-tailed Student''s t-tests. (D) Pretreatment of LGs dose-dependently blocked ONAyne-labelling of MDH2 in RAW264.7 cells, as measured by western blotting-based ABPP. (E and F) LGs dose-dependently decreased the H2BK5 acetylation level in RAW 264.7 cells, as measured either by western blotting (E) or by immunofluorescence imaging (F). n = 3. For G, nuclei were visualized using DAPI (blue).We initially evaluated MDH2 (malate dehydrogenase, mitochondrial, also known as MDHM), an important metabolic enzyme that possesses four previously uncharacterized liganded lysine sites (K157, K239, K301 and K329, Fig. 4B) that are far from the active site (Fig. S14^†). We found that LGs dramatically reduced the catalytic activity of MDH2 in RAW264.7 cells (Fig. 4C), suggesting a potentially allosteric effect. We next turned our attention to the targeted sites residing on histone proteins, which happen to be modified by functionally important acetylation, including H2BK5ac (Fig. 4B) that can regulate both stemness and epithelial–mesenchymal transition of trophoblast stem cells.⁴² We therefore hypothesized that rapid adduction by LGs competes with the enzymatic formation of this epigenetic mark. Immunoblotting-based competitive ABPP confirmed that LGs dose-dependently blocked probe labelling of H2B (Fig. 4D). Further, both western blots and immunofluorescence assays revealed that LG treatment decreased the level of acetylation of H2BK5 (average R_C/T = 1.3, P = 0.007) in a concentration-dependent manner (Fig. 4E and F). Likewise, a similar competitive crosstalk was observed between acetylation and LG-adduction on H2BK20 (average R_C/T = 1.2, P = 0.01) that is required for chromatin assembly⁴³ and/or gene regulation⁴⁴ (Fig. 4B and S15^†). Notably, these findings, together with several previous reports by us and others about histone lysine ketoamide adduction by another important LDE, 4-oxo-2-noenal,^11,45,46 highlight again the potentially important link between lipid peroxidation and epigenetic regulation. In addition to the targets validated as above, many other leads also merit functional studies considering diverse biological or physiologic effects of LGs in macrophages.     

Catalytic enantioselective synthesis of benzocyclobutenols and cyclobutanols via a sequential reduction/C–H functionalization

We report here a sequential enantioselective reduction/C–H functionalization to install contiguous stereogenic carbon centers of benzocyclobutenols and cyclobutanols. This strategy features a practical enantioselective reduction of a ketone and a diastereospecific iridium-catalyzed C–H silylation. Further transformations have been explored, including controllable regioselective ring-opening reactions. In addition, this strategy has been utilized for the synthesis of three natural products, phyllostoxin (proposed structure), grandisol and fragranol.

We report here a sequential enantioselective reduction/C–H functionalization to install contiguous stereogenic carbon centers of benzocyclobutenols and cyclobutanols.

Molecules with inherent ring strain have gained considerable interest in the synthetic community.¹ Among them, four-membered ring molecules have been recognized as powerful building blocks in organic synthesis.² Driven by ring strain releasing, the reactions of carbon–carbon bond cleavage have been extensively studied in recent years.³ Meanwhile, cyclobutane motifs represent important structural units in natural product and bioactive molecules as well (Scheme 1).⁴ Therefore, a general and robust method to constitute four-membered ring derivatives is of great value, especially in an enantiomerically pure form.⁵Open in a separate windowScheme 1Representative cyclobutane-containing bioactive molecules.[2 + 2]-Cycloaddition⁶ and the skeleton rearrangement reaction⁷ are two primary methods to prepare chiral cyclobutane derivatives. Recently, the precision modification of four-membered ring skeletons to access enantioenriched cyclobutane derivatives has attracted emerging attention. Several strategies have been developed, including allylic alkylation,⁸ α-functionalization,⁹ conjugate addition¹⁰ and C–H functionalization¹¹ of prochiral or racemic cyclobutane derivatives (Scheme 2a).¹² However, the enantioselective synthesis of chiral benzocyclobutene derivatives is still underdeveloped.¹³ Although two efficient palladium-catalyzed C–H activation strategies have been developed by Baudoin¹⁴ and Martin¹⁵ groups via similar intermediate five-membered palladacycles, no enantioenriched benzocyclobutene derivative has been prepared by employing the above two methods. In 2017, Kawabata reported an elegant example of asymmetric intermolecular α-arylation of enantioenriched amino acid derivatives to afford benzocyclobutenones with tetrasubstituted carbon via memory of chirality (Scheme 2b).¹⁶ In 2018, Zhang reported an iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of α-alkylidene benzocyclobutenones in good enantioselectivities (3 examples, 83–88% ee).^12c To the best of our knowledge, there is no report on enantioselective synthesis of benzocyclobutene derivatives with all-carbon quaternary centers.Open in a separate windowScheme 2Asymmetric synthesis of cyclobutanes and their derivatives. (a) Enantioselective functionalization of four-membered ring substrates. (b) Synthesis of chiral benzocyclobutenone via memory of chirality. (c) This work: sequential enantioselective reduction/C–H functionalization.In line with our continued interest in precision modification of four-membered ring skeletons,^9d,10c,12a we initiated our studies on the synthesis of chiral benzocyclobutenes via enantioselective functionalization of highly strained benzocyclobutenones. It is well known that benzocyclobutene derivatives are labile to undergo a ring-opening reaction to release their inherent ring strains.¹⁷ Therefore, it is a challenging task to modify the benzocyclobutenone and preserve the four-membered ring skeleton at the same time. We envisioned that a carbonyl group directed C–H functionalization¹⁸ of the gem-dimethyl group could furnish enantioenriched α-quaternary benzocyclobutenones (Scheme 2c). This could be viewed as an alternative approach to achieve the alkylation of benzocyclobutenone, which was otherwise directly inaccessible using enolate chemistry through the unstable anti-aromatic intermediate.¹⁹ In addition, a highly regioselective C–H activation would be required to functionalize the methyl group instead of the aryl ring. Here we report our work on sequential enantioselective reduction and intramolecular C–H silylation to provide enantioenriched benzocyclobutenols and cyclobutanols with all-carbon quaternary centers. The excellent diastereoselectivity and regioselectivity of silylation were attributed to rigid structural organization of the 4/5 fused ring. Furthermore, this strategy has been utilized to accomplish the total synthesis of natural products phyllostoxin (proposed structure), grandisol and fragranol.We commenced our studies with enantioselective reduction of readily prepared dimethylbenzocyclobutenone 1a (Scheme 3).^15,20 Surprisingly, enantioselective reduction of the carbonyl group of cyclobutanone derivatives received little attention. The first reduction of parent benzocyclobutenone was studied in 1996 by Kündig using chlorodiisopinocamphenylborane²¹ or chiral oxazaborolidines (CBS reduction),²² and only moderate enantioselectivity (44–68% ee) was obtained.²³ Although copper-catalyzed asymmetric hydrosilylation of benzocyclobutenone 1a using CuCl/(R)-BINAP gave the benzocyclobutenol ent-2a in 88% ee, optimization of ligands gave no further improvement (Scheme 3a, see Tables S1–S4^† for details).²⁴ Gladly, excellent enantioselective reduction could be achieved in 94% yield and 97% ee under Noyori''s asymmetric transfer hydrogenation conditions (Scheme 3b, conditions A, RuCl[(S,S)-Tsdpen](p-cymene)).²⁵ The product 2a showed remarkable stability and no ring-opening byproduct 2a′ was observed. The reduction of parent benzocyclobutenone was examined under conditions A, and benzocyclobutenol was obtained in 90% yield and 81% ee. Apparently, the steric influence imposed by the α-dimethyl group enhanced the enantioselectivity of the reduction. Similarly, the CBS reduction ((S)-B–Me) of benzocyclobutenone 1a gave better results compared with parent benzocyclobutenone, affording the product 2a in 86% yield and 92% ee (Scheme 3c).Open in a separate windowScheme 3Enantioselective reduction of benzocyclobutenone 1a. (a) Copper hydride reduction. (b) Ru-catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation. (c) CBS reduction.We then examined the substrate scope of the reduction reaction (26 was chosen to improve the yield and enantioselectivity. Besides, benzocyclobutenol 2g with nitro substitution could be obtained in 96% yield and 93% ee. Treatment of pyrrolidinyl substituted benzocycobutenone 1h with catalyst (S,S)-Ts-DENEB afforded desired product 2h in 49% yield and 89% ee, together with ring-opening product 2h′ (18%).Enantioselective reduction of benzocyclobutenones^a

Monitoring single Au38 nanocluster reactions via electrochemiluminescence

Herein, we report for the first time single Au₃₈ nanocluster reaction events of highly efficient electrochemiluminescence (ECL) with tri-n-propylamine radicals as a reductive co-reactant at the surface of an ultramicroelectrode (UME). The statistical analyses of individual reactions confirm stochastic single ones influenced by the applied potential.

Herein, we report for the first time single Au₃₈ nanocluster reaction events of highly efficient electrochemiluminescence (ECL) with tri-n-propylamine radicals as a reductive co-reactant at the surface of a Pt ultramicroelectrode (UME).

Single entity measurements have been introduced by Bard and Wightman based on the collisions/reactions of individual nanoparticles and molecules at an ultramicroelectrode (UME).^1–9 Since then, the field of single entity electrochemistry has gradually attracted several research groups and has become a frontier field of nanoelectrochemistry and electroanalytical chemistry.^8,10–14 For instance, it has been shown that the chemistry of the electrode surface plays an important role in the collision/reaction events and the kinetics of reaction processes.^15–21 Dasari et al. reported that hydrazine oxidation and proton reduction can be detected using single Pt nanoparticles on the surface of a mercury or bismuth modified Pt UME, and the material of the electrode was found to affect the shape of current–time transients.^22,23 Fast scan cyclic voltammetry provides better chemical information about transient electrode–nanoparticle interactions, which is otherwise difficult to obtain with constant-potential techniques.²⁴ There are only a few reports on photoelectrochemical systems including semiconductor nanoparticles designed to detect single nanoparticles in the course of photocatalysis processes.^25–28 More importantly, owing to the nature of stochastic processes of single entity reactions, statistical analyses have shown substantial influences on the understanding of the underlying processes.Electrochemiluminescence or electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL),²⁹ as a background-free technique,^30–32 was also utilized to detect individual chemical reactions and single Pt nanoparticle collisions based on the reaction between the Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ complex and tri-n-propylamine (TPrA) radicals on the surface of an ITO electrode.^2,33,34 It was found that the size of the nanoparticles, the origin of the interaction between particles and the electrode surface, the concentration of species generation, and the lifetime of individual electrogenerated nanocluster species (i.e., Au₃₈²⁺, Au₃₈³⁺, and Au₃₈⁴⁺) in conjunction with the reactivity of those oxidized species with co-reactant radical intermediates (i.e., TPrA radical) play crucial roles in the frequency of the ECL reaction events leading to individual ECL responses. More strikingly, a higher ECL reaction frequency is directly proportional to the amount of collected ECL light.²¹ Chen and co-workers also employed ECL to study stationary single gold-platinum nanoparticle reactivity on the surface of an ITO electrode.³⁵ Lin and co-workers monitored the hydrogen evolution reaction in the course of “ON” and “OFF” ECL signals.³⁶ Recently, we performed a systematic and mechanistic ECL study of a series of gold nanoclusters, with the general formula of Au_n(SC₂H₄Ph)_m^z (n = 25, 38, 144, m = 18, 24, 60 and z = −1, 0, +1), where near-infrared (NIR) ECL emission was observed.³⁷ There are several enhancement factors, such as catalytic loops^38,39 that improve the signal to noise ratio. The Wightman group was able to report single ECL reactions based on the capability of ECL.⁷ Furthermore, thus far, we have explored ECL mechanisms and reported the ECL efficiency of five different gold nanoclusters i.e., Au₂₅(SR)₁₈¹⁻, Au₂₅(SR)₁₈⁰, Au₂₅(SR)₁₈¹⁺, Au₃₈(SR)₂₄⁰ and Au₁₄₄(SR)₆₀⁰, among which the Au₃₈(SR)₂₄⁰/TPrA system revealed outstanding ECL efficiency, ca. 3.5 times higher than that of Ru(bpy)₃²⁺/TPrA as a gold standard. Therefore, we decided to focus on the Au₃₈ (SR)₂₄⁰/TPrA system. It was discovered that the ECL emission of these nanomaterials can be tuned through varying the applied potential and local concentration of the desired co-reactant.Herein, for the first time we report on ECL via a single Au₃₈(SC₂H₄Ph)₂₄ nanocluster (hereafter denoted as Au₃₈ NC) reaction (eq. (1)) in the vicinity of an UME in the presence of TPrA radicals as a reductive co-reactant.1where x is the oxidation number that can be either 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4. Single ECL spikes (Fig. 1A) along with ECL spectroscopy were used for elucidating individual reaction events. Indeed, each single ECL spike demonstrates a single Au₃₈^(x−1)* reaction product. Au₃₈ NCs were synthesized according to procedures reported by us and others, and fully characterized using UV-Visible-NIR, photoluminescence, ¹HNMR spectroscopy and MALDI mass spectrometry to confirm the Au₃₈ nanocluster synthesis (details are provided in ESI, Sections 1–3, Fig. S1–S4^†).^38,40,41Fig. 2 (left) shows a differential pulse voltammogram (DPV) in an anodic scan of a 2 mm Pt disc electrode immersed in 0.1 mM Au₃₈ acetonitrile/benzene solution containing 0.1 M TBAPF₆ as the supporting electrolyte. There are five discrete electrochemical peaks at which Au₃₈⁰ was oxidized to Au₃₈⁺ (E°′ = 0.39 V), Au₃₈²⁺ (E°′ = 0.60 V), and Au₃₈^3+/4+ (E°′ = 0.99 V) and reduced to Au₃₈⁻ (E°′ = −0.76 V) and Au₃₈²⁻ (E°′ = −1.01 V).^38,40,41Open in a separate windowFig. 1(A) An example of the reaction event transient of 10 μM Au₃₈ in benzene/acetonitrile (1 : 1) containing 0.1 M TBAPF₆ in the presence of 20 mM TPrA at 0.9 V vs. SCE, acquired at 15 ms time intervals using a 10 μm Pt UME. The white dashed-line indicates the threshold to identify single ECL spikes. (B) Illustration of a single nanocluster ECL spike. (C) ECL instrumentation with an inset showing ECL spike generation in the vicinity of the Pt UME.Open in a separate windowFig. 2Anodic DPV for Au₃₈ (left), reaction energy diagram of Au₃₈²⁺ and TPrA· (middle) along with the ECL–voltage curve (right) in an anodic potential scan at a 2 mm Pt disk electrode immersed in a solution of 10 μM Au₃₈ with 20 mM TPrA.The rich electrochemistry of Au₃₈ NCs is well-matched with that of co-reactants such as TPrA to generate near infrared-ECL (NIR-ECL), and the ECL emission efficiency of the Au₃₈/TPrA system is 3.5 times larger than that of the Ru(bpy)₃²⁺/TPrA co-reactant ECL system.²⁷Thus, it is of utmost interest to investigate the ECL generation of the above co-reactant system in single reactions, which improves the ECL signal detection sensitivity. To perform the ECL experiment a solution of 10 μM Au₃₈ NC with 20 mM TPrA was prepared. We first confirmed the ECL light generation of such solution along with its blank solution containing only TPrA using a typical 2 mm diameter Pt disk electrode (Fig. 2, S5 and S6^†).A 10 μm Pt UME electrode, which is electrochemically inert (Fig. S7^†), was utilized to investigate the ECL of single NC reactions under potentiostatic conditions, at which a specific positive bias potential was applied to oxidize both Au₃₈ and TPrA. Fig. 1A shows a typical ECL–time transient current curve (ECL intensity versus time) at 0.90 V vs. SCE, which was acquired using a photomultiplier tube (PMT, R928) for a duration of 1800 s at data acquisition time intervals of 15 ms (Fig. 1C and ESI, Section 3^†). Fig. 1B represents an exemplary event of a single ECL spike with a sharp increase followed by a decay in the ECL intensity. It is observed from the many spikes in Fig. 1B that this process can reoccur with a high probability in the vicinity of the UME, probably due to an electrocatalytic reaction loop (Fig. 1C). Indeed, ECL intensity was enhanced in this way as an already relaxed species, i.e., Au₃₈^z+1*, participates in an oxidation step to regenerate Au₃₈^z+1 to react with the TPrA radical (TPrA˙).Once photons resulting from the excited state relaxation in the vicinity of the UME are captured by the PMT, individual reaction events can be observed (Fig. 1A with the instrumentation schematic shown in Fig. 1C). As shown in Fig. 3A, there are many ECL spikes during 1800 s of measurement, each of which represents an individual ECL generation reaction in the vicinity of the UME surface. It is worth noting that there are several spikes with various intensities. This is most likely due to the Brownian motion which is random movement due to the diffusion of individual nanocluster species such as Au₃₈⁰, Au₃₈¹⁺, Au₃₈²⁺, etc., electrogenerated at the local applied potentials. Long and co-workers⁴² proposed that silver nanoparticle collision on the surface of a gold electrode follows Brownian motion, leading to several types of surface-nanoparticle response peak shapes. In fact, the observed ECL spikes, shown in Fig. 1C, with a rise and an exponential decay suggested that Au₃₈ nanocluster species diffuse directly through the electrode double-layer, move towards the tunneling region of the electrode surface, collide⁴² and become oxidized, react with TPrA radicals thereafter to produce excited states, and emit ECL. It is worth emphasizing that this path could be partially different for each individual nanocluster owing to the angle and direction relative to the electrode surface. The single Au₃₈ NC reaction behaviour at various bias potentials was investigated following the electrochemical energy diagram shown in Fig. 2, middle. For example, at a bias potential of 0.70 V (the green spot on the DPV in Fig. 2), Au₃₈⁰ undergoes two successive oxidation reactions to Au₃₈²⁺ and TPrA oxidation and deprotonation start to generate TPrA·. In fact, at a very close oxidation potential to Au₃₈²⁺, TPrA is also oxidized to its corresponding cation radical (ca. 0.80 V vs. SCE) Fig. S6,^† followed by deprotonation to form the TPrA radical.³⁸ The TPrA· with a very high reduction power (E°′ = −1.7 eV)⁴³ injects one electron to the LUMO orbital of the nanocluster and forms excited state Au₃₈⁺*, as illustrated in the reaction energy diagram in Fig. 2, middle.³⁸ Then, Au₃₈⁺* emits ECL light while relaxing to the ground state. For another instance, at 1.10 V vs. SCE (the red spot on the DPV in Fig. 2), Au₃₈⁰ is oxidized to Au₃₈^3/4+ feasibly. At this potential, the TPrA radical is generated massively in the vicinity of the electrode. The efficient electron transfer between the TPrA radical and Au₃₈^3/4+ generates both Au₃₈²⁺* and Au₃₈³⁺* that emit light at the same wavelength of 930 nm.³⁸ The results of such interactions produced a transient composed of many ECL events (Fig. 3A), which is an indication of bias potential enforcement on the nanocluster light emission.Open in a separate windowFig. 3Single-nanocluster ECL photoelectron spectroscopy of Au₃₈. ECL–time transients (A), statistics of the number of photons (B), histogram of the single reaction time between sequential spikes (C) and accumulated ECL spectrum (D) for a 10 μm Pt UME at 1.1 V immersed in a 10 μM Au₃₈ nanocluster solution in benzene/acetonitrile (1 : 1) containing 0.1 M TBAPF₆ in the presence of 20 mM TPrA. (E)–(H) The counterpart plots to (A)–(D) for the UME biased at 0.7 V. # represents the number.We further tried to collect the current–time traces of such events; however, owing to the high background current originating from the high concentration of TPrA relative to that of the nanocluster, no noticeable spikes in the current were observed.In order to study the photochemistry and understand deeply the single nanocluster reactions, ECL–time transients were collected at different applied potentials (i.e., 0.7, 0.8, 0.9 and 1.1 V vs. SCE) as labelled in green, brown, purple, and red on the DPV in Fig. 2, respectively. The transients were further analysed using our home-written MATLAB algorithm adapted from that for nanopore electrochemistry.⁴⁴ The population of individual events was identified by applying an appropriate threshold to discriminate ECL spikes from the noise as demonstrated in Fig. 1A. In fact, the applied algorithm also assisted us to learn about the raising time and intensity of each spike, as well as photons of individual spikes. For instance, Fig. 3A shows another typical transit for 1800 s at an UME potential bias of 1.1 V for the ECL events. Indeed, the integrated area of each peak, the charge of the photoelectrons at the PMT, is directly proportional to the number of photons emitted from individual reactions (see ESI, Section 5^†). Basically, the PMT amplifies the collected single photon emitted in the course of light-to-photoelectron conversion (see ESI, Section 6 and Fig. S8^†) and translates a single photon into photoelectrons. The extracted charge of each ECL reaction, Q_ECL, was then converted to the corresponding number of photons by dividing by the gain factor, g, which is 1.55 × 10⁶ (Fig. S8^†), following eqn (2):2The histograms of the number of photons show a Gaussian distribution (Fig. 3B) with a reaction frequency of 53.5 ± 2.9 at E = 1.1 V, whereas at a lower potential of 0.7 V the reaction frequency drops to 18.5 ± 1.7 (Fig. 3F). This indicates that there is a three-fold lower reaction occurrence at the lower potential. The integration of the Gaussian fitting at 1.1 V and 0.7 V also reveals a three-fold drop from 3.3 × 10⁵ to 1.2 × 10⁵ photons over 1800 s.To further explore the effect of electrode potential bias on the single Au₃₈ NCs ECL reaction, potentials lower than 1.1 and higher than 0.7 V, ca. 0.8 and 0.9 V (brown and purple labels in Fig. 2), were applied. In fact, the resulting ECL–time transients show a lower population of single spikes (Fig. S12A and ESI,^†). The integrated Gaussian curve values support the ECL–time transient observations with ∼4.1 × 10⁴ and ∼6.5 × 10⁴ photons, respectively. In fact, it is unlikely that the PMT would get more than two events in the duration, owing to the following reasons: (i) it has been shown that only 5.5% of incoming photons can be effectively converted to photoelectron signals by our R928 PMT during our absolute efficiency calibration, ESI Section 6 and Fig. S8–S19^†;⁴⁵ (ii) spherical ECL emission is proven to be detected for a substantial small part upon examination of our detection system for the absolute ECL quantum efficiency;⁴⁵ (iii) Au₃₈ nanocluster ECL emissions occur at 930 nm, which is almost at the wavelength detection limit of our PMT response curve.^38,45In addition, we evaluated the stochastic (a series of random events at various probability distributions) nature of the observed events and extracted the reaction time interval (τ) at various potentials. The resulting graph shows an exponential decay (Fig. 3C) as expressed in eqn (3):3where frequency (λ) gives the mean rate of the event and A represents the fitting amplitude. One can expect to obtain the distribution of the number of emitted photons and spatial brightness function. In fact, the exponential decay is a clear indication of random single reaction events as Whiteman and co-workers described for a 9,10-diphenylanthracene (DPA) ECL system in the annihilation pathway.^7,46 At a potential of 1.1 V, λ and A are found to be 4.98 ± 0.02 ms⁻¹ and 80.4 ± 3.2, whereas at 0.7 V, λ and A turned out to be 32.9 ± 1.6 ms⁻¹ and 9.5 ± 0.1 (Fig. 3C and G). Indeed, the lower potential of 0.70 V vs. SCE is high enough to generate the TPrA radical along with Au₃₈²⁺, thereby leading to excited Au₃₈⁺*, Fig. 3E. One can conclude that at the applied potentials of 0.7 V and 1.1 V, Au₃₈⁰ is oxidized to Au₃₈²⁺ and Au₃₈⁴⁺, resulting in the generation of Au₃₈⁺* and Au₃₈³⁺* under static conditions. Thus, there are higher populations of ECL spikes with no discrepancy in the number of collected photon distributions. However, at two intermediate potentials, i.e., 0.8 and 0.9 V, a dynamic behaviour which is due to the mixed oxidation of Au₃₈ species, in the vicinity of the UME, is observed. In fact, at these two applied potentials, the local concentration of the corresponding gold nanoclusters (i.e., Au₃₈³⁺ and Au₃₈⁴⁺) is not sufficient to produce significant ECL spikes. We also attempted to collect the ECL spectrum using a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, which is relatively more sensitive in the NIR region (e.g., λ > 900 nm, Fig. S16^†). Fig. 3D and H display an accumulated spectrum at 1.1 and 0.7 V vs. SCE, which is collected for 30 minutes. The fitted accumulated ECL spectrum indicates an ECL peak emission at 930 nm and supports higher reactivity at 1.1 V than that at 0.7 V.³⁸ To confirm that the observed ECL spikes and accumulated spectra are generated based on the oxidation of Au₃₈ nanoclusters in the presence of TPrA radicals, ECL–time transients were recorded upon holding an applied potential at which no faradaic process occurs. Fig. S11^† represents ECL–time curves and accumulated ECL spectra at 0.0 V and 0.4 V. One can notice that no appreciable ECL signal can be observed.In addition, we investigate the Pearson cross-correlation (ρ) between the intensities of ECL spikes with τ as shown in Fig. S14^† in which there is a positive correlation at 0.7 and 1.0 V and a negative correlation at 0.8 and 0.9 V. In fact, ρ evaluates whether there is a stationary random process between the two defined parameters (see ESI, Section 6^†). Interestingly, the frequency of the reaction at different applied potentials revealed decay from 0.7 to 0.8 V, followed by an upward trend to 0.9 and 1.1 V vs. SCE (Fig. S15^†). This could be additional support for the transition stage at 0.8 and 0.9 V, where the applied potential as the major driving force to generate oxidized forms (e.g., Au₃₈³⁺ and Au₃₈⁴⁺) governs the flux of the nanocluster species that reach the vicinity of the electrode. Furthermore, the effectiveness of electron transfer reaction kinetics between the radical species, i.e., Au₃₈^z+1 and TPrA radical, competes with the flow of the incoming nanoclusters. It is worth mentioning that each of the ECL single event experiments was repeated three times, and very similar results were obtained. Moreover, lower (5 μM) and higher (20 μM) concentrations of Au₃₈ in the presence of 20 mM were tested. In fact, the former shows a smaller number of single reactions; however the later revealed a larger number of multiple reactions (Fig. S13^†).In summary, in this communication we demonstrated that Au₃₈ NC ECL at the single reaction level can be monitored using a simple photoelectrochemical setup following a straightforward protocol. Indeed, we have rich basic knowledge about the ECL mechanisms of various gold nanoclusters with different charge states (Au₂₅(SR)₁₈¹⁺, Au₂₅(SR)₁₈⁰, Au₂₅(SR)₁₈¹⁻) and various sizes (Au₂₅(SR)₁₈⁰, Au₃₈(SR)₂₄⁰, Au₁₄₄(SR)₆₀⁰) in fine detail. Thus, the ECL emission mechanisms of gold clusters, including the contribution of each charge state and influence of various concentrations of co-reactants, are well known. For instance, in our previous studies^{38,39,47–49} we clearly identified three charge states of an Au₂₅(SR)₁₈¹⁻/TPrA system and we discovered that at a high concentration of TPrA the reduction in the bulk solution of gold nanoclusters influences the ECL emission wavelength. We also have learnt that the Au₃₈/TPrA system is a co-reactant independent of co-reactant concentration. Furthermore, an extensively higher concentration of TPrA provides a dominant reaction over any unknown decomposition reaction at higher oxidation states of Au₃₈. It was discovered that the population of ECL reactions is directly governed by the applied bias potential on a Pt UME. This work is a strong indication of the high sensitivity of the ECL technique in detecting single ECL reactions in a simple solution, which complements those reported by the Bard group using rubrene, for instance, embedded in an organic emulsion in the presence of TPrA or oxalate as a co-reactant.^50,51 These systems needed a substantial ECL enhancement in the presence of an ionic liquid as the supporting electrolyte and emulsifier. The current approach can be further extended to investigate other molecules and nanomaterials'' electrocatalytic processes at the single reaction level.     

Correction: Mass spectrometric detection of fleeting neutral intermediates generated in electrochemical reactions

Correction for ‘Mass spectrometric detection of fleeting neutral intermediates generated in electrochemical reactions’ by Jilin Liu et al., Chem. Sci., 2021, 12, 9494–9499, DOI: 10.1039/D1SC01385H.

The authors regret that the details for ref. 15 and 17 were inadvertently swapped in the original article. The correct versions of ref. 15 and 17 are given below as ref. 1 and 2, respectively.The Royal Society of Chemistry apologises for these errors and any consequent inconvenience to authors and readers.     

Simplifying and expanding the scope of boron imidazolate framework (BIF) synthesis using mechanochemistry

Mechanochemistry enables rapid access to boron imidazolate frameworks (BIFs), including ultralight materials based on Li and Cu(i) nodes, as well as new, previously unexplored systems based on Ag(i) nodes. Compared to solution methods, mechanochemistry is faster, provides materials with improved porosity, and replaces harsh reactants (e.g. n-butylithium) with simpler and safer oxides, carbonates or hydroxides. Periodic density-functional theory (DFT) calculations on polymorphic pairs of BIFs based on Li⁺, Cu⁺ and Ag⁺ nodes reveals that heavy-atom nodes increase the stability of the open SOD-framework relative to the non-porous dia-polymorph.

Mechanochemistry enables rapid access to boron imidazolate frameworks (BIFs), including ultralight materials based on Li and Cu(i) nodes, as well as new, previously unexplored systems based on Ag(i) nodes.

Mechanochemistry^1–7 has emerged as a versatile methodology for the synthesis and discovery of advanced materials, including nanoparticle systems^8–10 and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs),^11–15 giving rise to materials that are challenging to obtain using conventional solution-based techniques.^16–18 Mechanochemical techniques such as ball milling, twin screw extrusion¹⁹ and acoustic mixing^20,21 have simplified and advanced the synthesis of a wide range of MOFs, permitting the use of simple starting materials such as metal oxides, hydroxides or carbonates,^22,23 at room temperature and without bulk solvents, yielding products of comparable stability and, after activation, higher surface areas than solution-generated counterparts.^24–29 The efficiency of mechanochemistry in MOF synthesis was recently highlighted by accessing zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs)^30,31 that were theoretically predicted, but not accessible under conventional solution-based conditions.¹⁷The advantages of mechanochemistry in MOF chemistry led us to address the possibility of synthesizing boron imidazolate frameworks (BIFs),^32–34 an intriguing but poorly developed class of microporous materials analogous to ZIFs, comprising equimolar combinations of tetrahedrally coordinated boron(iii) and monovalent Li⁺ or Cu⁺ cations as nodes (Fig. 1A–C). Although BIFs offer an attractive opportunity to access microporous MOFs with lower molecular weights, particularly in the case of “ultralight” systems based on Li⁺ and B(iii) centers, this family of materials has remained largely unexplored – potentially due to the need for harsh synthetic conditions, including the use of n-butyllithium in a solvothermal environment.^32–34Open in a separate windowFig. 1Structures of previously reported BIFs with: (A) zni-, (B) dia-, or (C) SOD-topology (M = Li, Cu); (D) tetrakis(imidazolyl)boric acids used herein for mechanochemical BIF synthesis; and (E) schematic representation of the herein developed mechanosynthesis of dia- and SOD BIF polymorphs based on Li, Cu or Ag metal nodes.We now show how switching to the mechanochemical environment enables lithium- and copper(i)-based BIFs to be prepared rapidly (i.e., within 60–90 minutes), without elevated temperatures or bulk solvents, and from readily accessible solid reactants, such as hydroxides and oxides (Fig. 1D and E). While the mechanochemically-prepared BIFs exhibit significantly higher surface areas than the solvothermally-prepared counterparts, mechanochemistry allows for expanding this class of materials towards previously not reported Ag⁺ nodes. The introduction of BIFs isostructural with those based on Li⁺ or Cu⁺ but comprising of Ag⁺ ions, enables a periodic density-functional theory (DFT) evaluation of their stability. This reveals that switching to heavier elements as tetrahedral nodes improves the stability of sodalite topology (SOD) open BIFs with respect to close-packed diamondoid (dia) topology polymorphs.As a first attempt at mechanochemically synthesis of BIFs, we targeted the synthesis of previously reported zni-topology LiB(Im)₄ and CuB(Im)₄ frameworks (Li-BIF-1 and Cu-BIF-1, respectively, Fig. 1A) using a salt exchange reaction between LiCl or CuCl with commercially available sodium tetrakis(imidazolyl)borate (Na[B(Im)₄]) (Fig. 2A). Milling of LiCl and Na[B(Im)₄] in a 1 : 1 stoichiometric ratio for up to 60 minutes led to the appearance of Bragg reflections consistent with the target Li-BIF-1 (CSD MOXJEP) and the anticipated NaCl byproduct. The reaction was, however, incomplete, as seen by X-ray reflections of Na[B(Im)₄] starting material. In order to improve reactant conversion, we explored liquid-assisted grinding (LAG), i.e. milling in the presence of a small amount of a liquid phase (measured by the liquid-to-solid ratio η³⁵ in the range of ca. 0–2 μL mg⁻¹). Using LAG conditions with acetonitrile (MeCN, 120 μL, η = 0.5 μL mg⁻¹) led to the complete disappearance of reactant X-ray reflections, concomitant with the formation of Li-BIF-1 alongside NaCl within 60 minutes.Open in a separate windowFig. 2(A) Reaction scheme for the mechanochemical synthesis of Li-BIF-1 by a salt metathesis strategy. Selected PXRD patterns for: (B) Na[B(Im)₄] (C) LiCl, (D) simulated Li-BIF-1 (CSD MOXJPEP) and (E) synthesized BIF-1-Li by LAG for 60 minutes with MeCN (η = 0.5 μL mg⁻¹), (F) CuCl, (G) simulated Cu-BIF-1 (CSD MOXJIT), and (H) synthesized BIF-1-Cu by LAG for 60 minutes with MeOH (η = 0.50 μL mg⁻¹). Asterisks denote NaCl, a byproduct of the metathesis reaction. (Fig. 2B–E, also see ESI^†). The copper-based zni-CuB(Im)₄ (Cu-BIF-1) was readily obtained from CuCl within 60 minutes using similar LAG conditions. We also explored LAG with methanol (MeOH), revealing that the exchange reaction to form NaCl took place with both LiCl and CuCl starting materials. With LiCl, however, the PXRD pattern of the product could not be matched to known phases involving Li⁺ and B(Im)₄⁻ (see ESI^†). With CuCl as a reactant, LAG with MeOH (η = 0.5 μL mg⁻¹) cleanly produced Cu-BIF-1 alongside NaCl (see ESI^†).Next, we explored an alternative synthesis approach, analogous to that previously used to form ZIFs and other MOFs: an acid–base reaction between a metal oxide or hydroxide and the acid form of the linker: tetrakis(imidazolato)boric acid, HB(Im)₄ (Fig. 3A).^36–40 Neat milling LiOH with one equivalent of HB(Im)₄ in a stainless steel milling assembly led to the partial formation of Li-BIF-1, as evidenced by PXRD analysis (see ESI^†). Complete conversion of reactants into Li-BIF-1 was achieved in 60 minutes by LAG with MeCN (η = 0.25 μL mg⁻¹), as indicated by PXRD analysis (Fig. 3B–E), Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in air, and analysis of metal content by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) (see ESI^†).Open in a separate windowFig. 3(A) Reaction scheme for the mechanochemical synthesis of Li-BIF-1 using the acid–base strategy. Selected PXRD patterns for: (B) H[B(Im)₄] (C) LiOH, (D) simulated Li-BIF-1 (CSD MOXJPEP), (E) synthesized BIF-1-Li by LAG for 60 minutes with MeCN (η = 0.25 μL mg⁻¹), (F) Cu₂O, (G) simulated Cu-BIF-1 (CSD MOXJIT), and (H) synthesized Cu-BIF-1 by ILAG for 60 minutes with MeOH (η = 0.50 μL mg⁻¹) and NH₄NO₃ additive (5% by weight).Neat milling of HB(Im)₄ with Cu₂O under similar conditions gave a largely non-crystalline material, as evidenced by PXRD (see ESI^†). Switching to the ion- and liquid-assisted grinding (ILAG) methodology, in which the reactivity of a metal oxide is enhanced by a small amount of a weakly acidic ammonium salt, and which was introduced to prepare zinc and cadmium ZIFs from respective oxides,^37–40 enabled the synthesis of Cu-BIF-1 from Cu₂O. Specifically, PXRD analysis revealed complete disappearance of the oxide in samples obtained by ILAG with either MeOH or MeCN (η = 0.5 μL mg⁻¹) in the presence of NH₄NO₃ additive (5% by weight, see ESI^†). Notably, achieving complete disappearance of Cu₂O reactant signals also required switching from stainless steel to a zirconia-based milling assembly, presumably due to more efficient energy delivery.⁴¹ After washing with MeOH, the material was characterized by FTIR-ATR, TGA in air, and analysis of metal content by ICP-MS (see ESI^†).Whereas both the metathesis and acid–base approaches can be used to mechanochemically generate Li- and Cu-BIF-1, the latter approach has a clear advantage of circumventing the formation of the NaCl byproduct. Consequently, in order to further the development of mechanochemical routes to other BIFs, we focused on the acid–base strategy. As next targets, we turned to MOFs based on tetrakis(2-methylimidazole)boric acid H[B(Meim)₄],³⁶ previously reported³² to adopt either a non-porous diamondoid (dia) topology (BIF-2) or a microporous sodalite (SOD) topology (BIF-3) with either Li⁺ or Cu⁺ as nodes (Fig. 4). Attempts to selectively synthesize either Li-BIF-2 or Li-BIF-3 by neat milling or LAG (using MeOH or MeCN as liquid additives) with LiOH and a stoichiometric amount of HB(Meim)₄ were not successful. Exploration of different milling times and η-values produced only mixtures of residual reactants with Li-BIF-2, Li-BIF-3, and/or not yet identified phases (see ESI^†). Consequently, we explored milling in the presence of 2-aminobutanol (amb), which is a ubiquitous component of solvent systems used in the solvothermal syntheses of BIFs.^32,33 Gratifyingly, using a mixture of amb and MeCN in a 1 : 3 ratio by volume as the milling liquid led to an effective strategy for the selective synthesis of both the dia-topology Li-BIF-2 (CSD code MOXKUG), and the SOD-topology Li-BIF-3 (CSD code MUCLOM).^‡ The selective formation of phase-pure samples of Li-BIF-2 and Li-BIF-3 was confirmed by PXRD analysis, which revealed an excellent match to diffractograms simulated based on the previously reported structures (Fig. 4B–G). Systematic exploration of reaction conditions, including time (between 15 and 60 minutes) and η value (between 0.25 and 1 μL mg⁻¹) revealed that the open framework Li-BIF-3 is readily obtained at η either 0.75 or 1 μL mg⁻¹ after milling for 45 minutes or longer (Fig. 4B–G, also see ESI^†).^§ Lower η-values of 0.25 and 0.5 μL mg⁻¹ preferred the formation of the dia-topology Li-BIF-2, which was obtained as a phase-pure material upon 60 minutes milling at η = 0.5 μL mg⁻¹, following the initial appearance of a yet unidentified intermediate. The preferred formation of Li-BIF-2 at lower η-values is consistent with our previous observations that lower amounts of liquid promote mechanochemical formation of denser MOF polymorphs.³⁷Open in a separate windowFig. 4(A) Reaction scheme for the mechanochemical synthesis of Li-BIF-3. Comparison of selected PXRD patterns for the synthesis of Li-BIF-2 and Li-BIF-3: (B) H[B(Meim)₄] reactant; (C) LiOH reactant; (D) simulated for Li-BIF-3 (CSD MUCLOM); (E) simulated for Li-BIF-2 (CSD MOXKUG); (F) Li-BIF-3 mechanochemically synthesized by LAG for 60 minutes with a 1 : 3 by volume mixture of amb and MeCN (η = 1 μL mg⁻¹); and (G) Li-BIF-2 mechanochemically synthesized by LAG for 60 minutes with a 1 : 3 by volume mixture of amb and MeCN (η = 0.5 μL mg⁻¹). Comparison of selected PXRD patterns for the synthesis of Cu-BIF-2 and Li-BIF-3: (H) Cu₂O; (I) Cu-BIF-3 (CSD MOXJOZ); (J) Cu-BIF-2 (CSD MUCLIG); (K) Cu-BIF-3 mechanochemically synthesised by ILAG for 60 minutes using NH₄NO₃ ionic additive (5% by weight) and MeOH (η = 1 μL mg⁻¹); and (L) mechanochemically synthesised Cu-BIF-2 by ILAG for 90 minutes using NH₄NO₃ ionic additive (5% by weight) and MeOH (η = 0.5 μL mg⁻¹).Samples of both Li-BIF-2 and Li-BIF-3 after washing with MeCN were further characterized by FTIR-ATR, TGA in air, and analysis of metal content by ICP-MS (see ESI^†). Nitrogen sorption measurement on the mechanochemically obtained Li-BIF-3, after washing with MeCN and evacuation at 85 °C, revealed a highly microporous material with a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area of 1010 m² g⁻¹ (Fig. 5A), which is close to the value expected from the crystal structure of the material (1200 m² g⁻¹, 32 For direct comparison with previous work,³² we also calculated the Langmuir surface area, revealing an almost 40% increase (1060 m² g⁻¹) compared to samples made solvothermally (762.5 m² g⁻¹) (Fig. 5A, inset).Experimental Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and Langmuir surface area (in m² g⁻¹) of mechanochemically synthesized SOD-topology BIFs, compared to previously measured and theoretically calculated values, along with average particle sizes (in nm) established by SEM and calculated energies (in eV) for all Li-, Cu-, and Ag-BIF polymorphs. The difference between calculated energies for SOD- and dia-polymorphs in each system is given as ΔE (in kJ mol⁻¹)

Direct electrochemical hydrodefluorination of trifluoromethylketones enabled by non-protic conditions

CF₂H groups are unique due to the combination of their lipophilic and hydrogen bonding properties. The strength of H-bonding is determined by the group to which it is appended. Several functional groups have been explored in this context including O, S, SO and SO₂ to tune the intermolecular interaction. Difluoromethyl ketones are under-studied in this context, without a broadly accessible method for their preparation. Herein, we describe the development of an electrochemical hydrodefluorination of readily accessible trifluoromethylketones. The single-step reaction at deeply reductive potentials is uniquely amenable to challenging electron-rich substrates and reductively sensitive functionality. Key to this success is the use of non-protic conditions enabled by an ammonium salt that serves as a reductively stable, masked proton source. Analysis of their H-bonding has revealed difluoromethyl ketones to be potentially highly useful dual H-bond donor/acceptor moieties.

The electrochemical hydrodefluorination of trifluoromethylketones under non-protic conditions make this single-step reaction at deeply reductive potentials uniquely amenable to challenging electron-rich substrates and reductively sensitive functionalities.

The difluoromethyl group (CF₂H) has attracted significant recent attention in medicinal chemistry,^1,2 which complements the well-documented importance and growing use of fluorine in small molecule pharmaceuticals.^3–6 The CF₂H group is an H-bond donor^7,8 that is also lipophilic,^9,10 a unique combination that positions it as an increasingly valuable tool within drug-discovery.¹¹ CF₂H has been used as a bioisostere of OH and SH in serine and cystine moieties, respectively, as well as NH₂ groups, where greater lipophilicity and rigidity provide advantages to pharmacokinetics and potency.^12–14The hydrogen-bond acidity of CF₂H groups is exceptionally dependent on the atom or group to which it is appended (Fig. 1A).^1,2 The H-bond acidity of alkyl-CF₂H groups is half that of O–CF₂H and even a quarter of SO₂–CF₂H groups.¹ This mode of control allows the H-bonding strength and, therefore its function, to be finely tuned. While much research has focused on the synthesis, behaviour and use of XCF₂H groups, where X = O, S, SO, SO₂, Ar, it is surprising that the corresponding carbonyl containing moiety (X = CO) has remained relatively elusive in these contexts. Not only would difluoromethyl ketones (DFMK) be expected to provide a relatively strong H-bond, but the carbonyl unit provides a complementary, yet proximal mode of intermolecular interaction (Fig. 1B). Indeed, the dual action of neighbouring H-bond donor and acceptor functionalities provides the fundamental basis for many biological systems, including in the secondary structure assembly mechanisms for proteins and DNA/RNA nucleobase pairing, as well as in enzyme/substrate complexes. Indeed, the DFMK functionality has demonstrated important utility in biological applications, including anti-malarial and -coronaviral properties.¹⁵ Finally, the carbonyl provides a useful synthetic handle for further derivatization.Open in a separate windowFig. 1H-Bonding in DFMKs and their synthesis via hydrodefluorination.While some progress has been made on the synthesis of DFMKs,¹⁶ there still remains a need for a general and more broadly accessible route to their preparation. Current strategies for DFMK preparation require multi-step processes, expensive reagents, installation of activating groups, or are inherently low yielding.^15a,16–25 The hydrodefluorination of trifluoromethyl ketones (1) potentially represents the most accessible strategy, as the starting materials are most readily prepared through a high-yielding trifluoroacetylation of C–H or C–X bonds.^26–29 In 2001, Prakash demonstrated the viability of this approach using 2 equivalents of magnesium metal as stoichiometric reductant to drive the defluorination, with a second hydrolysis step (HCl (3–5 M) or fluoride, overnight stirring) to reveal the product.³⁰ The scope in this 2-step process (6 substrates) reflects the limitations of using a reductant, such as Mg, that has a fixed reduction potential, as well as incompatibilities arising from Mg/halide exchange with aryl halides. Similar limitations with the use of electron-rich substrates were revealed in related contributions from Uneyama.³¹In order to access more electron-rich and reductively challenging substrates, such as those containing medicinally relevant heterocycles, we postulated that electrochemical reduction could be employed (Fig. 1C). Electrosynthesis is becoming an increasingly valuable enabling technology and has seen a recent resurgence due to the precise control, unique selectivity, and the potential scalability and sustainability benefits that it offers.^32–36 This strategy would avoid the undesirable use of stoichiometric metals and the ‘deep-reduction’ potentials required are readily accessed by simply selecting the applied potential. Pioneering early work from Uneyama on the cathodic formation of silylenol ether intermediate 2, suggested this approach could be viable.^37,38 The fundamental challenge in designing a practical, single-step process under highly reducing potentials (<−2.0 V vs. Fc/Fc⁺), is to avoid the reduction of the proton source, which would otherwise compete to generate H₂ gas and leave the starting material untouched. Uneyama does not demonstrate hydrodefluorination, presumably due to this problem. Additional challenges posed by ‘deep-reduction’ include a lack of tolerance for reduction-sensitive functionality (alkene, C–X bonds etc.), low mass balance due to substrate decomposition and the undesirable use of sacrificial metal anodes.³⁹ Solving these problems should provide generally applicable, safe and scalable conditions for the hydrodefluorination of readily accessible trifluoromethyl ketones (1).Given the electron-rich nature of indoles, their ubiquity in bioactive compounds, and their ease of functionalisation, we chose indole 1a as the model substrate for optimisation. The highly reductive potentials required will render it a challenging substrate, which should lead to more general conditions suitable for other important substrate classes. Indeed, when we applied the Mg conditions of Prakash to this substrate, no silyl enol ether intermediate (2a) was observed, nor product 3a, and the starting material remained completely untouched ( EntryConditions different from aboveReductantProton source 1a ^a/%(2a) 3a^a/%1 Mg ⁰, THF, no electricity (Prakash conditions for3)Mg⁰—100(0) n/a2^bUndivided cell, TBAPF₆Sacrificial Mg anode—100(0) n/a3^bPb:C (cath:an), 0 ^oC, 30 mA (Uneyama conditions for2)TBABr (4 eq.)—33(32) 04^b—TBABr (2 eq.)(a) Acetic acid; (b) oxalic acid.51; 1000; 05^b—TBABr (2 eq.)Dimethylurea8206^b—TBABr (2 eq.)TEAPF₆ (4 eq.)49457TMSCl (0 eq.)TBABr (2 eq.)TEAPF₆ (4 eq.)8308^bTMSCl (6 eq.)TBABr (2 eq.)TEAPF₆ (4 eq.)49499^c TMSCl (3 + 3 eq.) TBABr (2 eq.) TEAPF ₆ (4 eq.) 0 97 10^cEntry 9, but Pt:Gr (cath:An)TBABr (2 eq.)TEAPF₆ (4 eq.)09411^cEntry 9, but Ni:Pt (cath:An)TBABr (2 eq.)TEAPF₆ (4 eq.)08312^cEntry 9, but Stainless Steel:Pt (cath:An)TBABr (2 eq.)TEAPF₆ (4 eq.)08513^cEntry 9, but Gr:Pt (cath:An)TBABr (2 eq.)TEAPF₆ (4 eq.)018Open in a separate window^{a 19}F NMR yields.^bTMSCl only added to cathodic chamber.^cTMSCl added to both cathodic and anodic chambers.The electrochemical conditions of Uneyama for preparing silylenol ethers (2) were applied to our indole 1a (entry 3). Unsurprisingly, no hydrodefluorinated product was observed, however intermediate 2a was formed in a 32% yield. In an effort to improve this yield we explored several solvents, reductants, additives and electrode materials, all of which were conducted in a divided cell at constant current and ambient temperature.⁴⁰ In addition, as we were keen to develop a single-step protocol, by avoiding the second hydrolysis step that can readily form homo-coupled aldol side products,³⁸ we surveyed a range of added proton sources for in situ delivery of 3a. The addition of carboxylic acids, such as acetic or oxalic acid (entry 4), gave no desired product, as the competing reduction of protons to H₂ gas dominated. Dimethylurea was recently used as a proton source in an electrochemical ‘deep-reduction’,⁴¹ but it returned no trace of intermediate 2a or product 3a (entry 5). We hypothesized that increasing the conductivity of the system, with additional tetraalkylammonium salts (from 2 to 4 eq.), the formation of intermediate 2a may be facilitated by avoiding large cell potentials. While this change did facilitate a lower cell potential, we discovered these salts behaved as reductively stable yet competent masked proton donors: 4 eq. NEt₄PF₆ gave 45% yield of product 3a, with no sign of intermediate 2a (entry 6). The detection of triethylamine in solution suggests donation through a Hoffmann elimination.⁴² With the exception of NMe₄⁺, other tetraalkylammonium salts were also competent proton donors (NEt₄⁺ > NBu₄⁺ > NPr₄⁺).A critical improvement to the yield was observed when the use of the radical anion trapping agent, TMSCl, was optimised. With no TMSCl, 3a was not observed (entry 7), and a loading of 6 equivalents saw little improvement over 3 equivalents (entry 8 vs. 6). Experiments hitherto described were conducted with TMSCl added only to the cathodic chamber (entries 2–8). Only when the 6 equivalents was split between both chambers was a drastic improvement observed (entry 9), giving an optimised yield of 97%. Notably, the increase in conversion still occurred with only 2 F, implying that a lower steady-state concentration may be important in the cathode chamber. To test this hypothesis, TMSCl was slowly added to the catholyte by syringe-pump addition over the course of the reaction, which gave a similar yield of 94%.⁴⁰ Although intermediate 2a is transient and was never observed, the importance of TMSCl to trap and stabilise reduced 1a was revealed by DFT (B3LYP/6-311+g(d)) calculations,⁴⁰ which suggested a thermodynamically highly challenging reaction in its absence.The oxidation of bromide to tribromide occurs on the anode, which is an ideal counter-electrode process: not only is bromide an inexpensive and metal-free sacrificial reductant, but as the produced Br₃⁻ is anionic, it does not rapidly migrate to the cathodic chamber, preventing unwanted side reactions.⁴³ The generated Br₃⁻ can even be used in follow-up bromination reactions.⁴⁴ An increase in the applied cell potential during the reaction signifies the consumption of Br⁻, and the oxidation of Br₃⁻ to Br₂ (Fig. 2).⁴⁵ Despite needing 3 equivalents of Br⁻ to form 2 equivalents of Br₃⁻ after 2 F, the loading of Br⁻ could be reduced to 2 equivalents without affecting yield. No over-reduction of 3a to the monofluoromethyl ketone was observed, which is significant considering the small difference in reduction potentials.⁴⁰ This emphasises the importance of a flat chronopotentiometry trace that is achieved with Br⁻ oxidation. Other reductants were found to be sub-optimal, including diisopropylamine and oxalic acid.⁴⁰Open in a separate windowFig. 2Reaction of 1a to 3a with 3 different Br⁻ concentrations.A graphite anode performed equally well as platinum for the counter electrode reaction (entry 10). Only marginally reduced yields were observed with nickel and stainless-steel cathodes (entries 11 and 12), however, a drastic decrease in the yield was observed with a graphite cathode (entry 13), possibly due to substrate grafting.³⁹We proceeded to explore the substrate scope with our optimized conditions, Fig. 3. As expected, our electrochemical conditions were suitable for the hydrodefluorination of electron-poor acetophenone derivatives (1b, 1c). However, unlike with the use of Mg,³⁰ substrates containing electron donating substituents are now well tolerated (1d–k). In addition, no hydrodebromination was observed for 1b, highlighting the selectivity and orthogonality granted by the use of our Mg-free, non-protic conditions. A selection of extended π-systems was tolerated, producing pyridyl 3l, biphenyl 3m, benzothiophene 3n, primary amine 3o, and pyrimidines 3p and 3q and in moderate to excellent yields. Chromoionophore dye 1r and stilbene 1s and were transformed in excellent yield, demonstrating tolerance to reductively sensitive alkenes, which would otherwise hydrogenate under protic electrochemical conditions.⁴⁶ Anthracenyl 1t and naphthyl substrates 1u and 1v all transformed efficiently in good to excellent yields, the latter of which underwent direct double hydrodefluorination. 4.5% over-reduction was observed in the double defluorination product, 3v, which was the only instance where this side-product was observed in greater than 1% quantities.⁴⁰ The good mass-balance and faradaic efficiency is notable considering the delocalization of charge around extended π-systems increases the likelihood of grafting.⁴⁷Open in a separate windowFig. 3Isolated yields of DFMKs tested under the reaction conditions at 0.5 mmol scale. NMR yields in parentheses. ^aReaction run at 10 mA; ^breaction run in IKA Divided ProSyn: quantitative yield based on RSM; ^c5 mmol scale, Ni foil:Gr (cath:an); ^disolated as the corresponding ketone following purification on silica.⁴⁹The model indole substrate 1a gave an excellent yield of DFMK at 0.5 mmol scale, which gave equally high yields when scaled up 10-fold (5 mmol), thereby demonstrating the robustness and practicality of the technique. We were also able to successfully prepare 3a in a commercially available divided cell set-up.⁴⁰ Alternative groups on nitrogen, including Boc, perfluoropyridyl and benzyl (3w–y), as well as the free indole 3z, were well tolerated and gave moderate to good yields of 3. Tosyl and acetyl groups on nitrogen were less well tolerated.⁴⁰ As with the acetophenones, indoles with electron donating (1aa) and withdrawing (1ab) groups proceeded to product. Methoxy demethylation of 3aa should lead to the corresponding phenol,⁴⁸ which is difficult to prepare using other methodologies due to competing side-reactions. Halide substitution also successfully yielded DFMKs (3ac–ag). The inclusion of the aryl-iodide functionality is especially notable due to its facile reduction; when a silver cathode was used to convert 1ag, hydrodeiodination was observed, but which was absent under our non-protic conditions with a Pt cathode. Increased steric bulk around the reacting center in thiophenyl and phenyl-substituted substrates 1ah and 1ai had no negative influence and gave good yields of product.Heterocyclic trifluoromethylketones were successfully hydrodefluorinated under the standard conditions, including indole 3aj, carbazole 3ak, pyrrole 3al, pyridine 3am, and pyrazoles 3an and 3ao, the latter of which leads to a compound with anti-malarial activity.^15a Alkyl trifluoromethylketones are more difficult to reduce compared to aromatic trifluoromethylketones, and are therefore challenging substrates to hydrodefluorinate, and impossible to convert using other methods. Nevertheless, oleyl 1ap, cyclohexyl 1aq and ethyl 1ar substrates were all amenable to the conditions, although the smaller alkyl products were cumbersome to isolate due to their volatility. The non-protic optimized conditions ensured no loss of mass-balance at these enhanced reduction potentials (|E_cell| = ca. 3.4–3.7 V for alkyl substrates vs. ca. 2.3–2.7 V for acetophenones and indoles). Finally, we tested the conditions on trifluoroacetamide 1as, thioester 1at and imines 1au and 1av. For each of these, the corresponding product was returned in moderate to good yields. Despite some complications in their isolation, these results are notable considering their difference in structure and lack of precedent. Unsuccessful substrates included a nitro-substituted indole, which was insoluble in the reaction medium, and hydrated TFMKs.⁴⁰We tested a variety of substrates with the Mg-mediated conditions reported by Prakash to gauge the level of complementary between the methods.³⁰ While acetophenone derivatives 1k and 1am were amenable to reduction with Mg, bromide substitution in 1b was unsurprisingly not tolerated with Grignard formation dominating. Indoles – 1a, 1ai, pyrazole – 1an, alkyl – 1aq, 1ar and anilide – 1as based trifluoromethylketones were untouched by Mg in all cases, with starting materials recovered only.To explore the value of the DFMK moiety in synthesis, we derivatized it in a variety of ways, Fig. 4. Resubjecting the product 3a to our non-protic hydrodefluorination conditions led to monofluorinated product 4, providing an alternative to the use of electrophilic fluorine sources.⁵⁰ Reduction of the ketone in 3ae to the methyl ether and alcohol successfully gave products, 5 and 6, respectively. The dithiane of 3a, which is a useful synthetic intermediate, was formed in excellent yield (7). A Corey–Chaykovsky methenylation gave epoxide 8 in good yield. A Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons reaction transformed the carbonyl to give alkene 9. Nucleophilic attack of the ketone was demonstrated with a trifluoromethylation reaction to give highly fluorinated alcohol 10. Orthogonal reactivity was also demonstrated with a Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling that gave biaryl 11. Interestingly, deuterium was not exchanged into 3a when stirred in a mixture of D₂O and MeCN, providing evidence for a less favourable enolization.Open in a separate windowFig. 4[A] Derivatization of DFMKs. X = H (3a) for 4, 7, and 8, X = Br (3ae) for others; [B] H-bond strength (A-value) correlated to σ_m Hammett parameter; [C] intermolecular H-bond revealed in X-ray crystal structure of 3ae; [D] DFT calculated (B3LYP/6-311+g(d)) relative energies of conformers with rotation around HC–CO bond. Brown arrows indicate direction of dipole.The H-bond strength (A-value) was measured for a series of phenyl substituted X–CF₂H derivatives using the NMR method from Abraham, Fig. 4B.^51–53 These experiments confirmed the sensitivity of the H-bonding ability to the identity of X. DFMK 3g and sulfoxide–CF₂H were found to be comparable H-bond donors, which were only marginally less than the sulfone–CF₂H. The H-bond strength correlated best with the σ_m parameter, reflecting the strong influence of inductive effects. Multiple regression analysis showed that any contribution of σ_p was statistically insignificant (P value = 0.33).Analysis of the X-ray crystal structure of 3ae, showed an inter-molecular H-bond between the CF₂H and a carbonyl from a neighbouring molecule (Fig. 4C). DFT was used to calculate the relative conformer energy with rotation about the (O)C–CF₂H dihedral bond (Fig. 4D). The lowest energy conformer eclipsed the H with the carbonyl, implying the possibility of an energy lowering intra-molecular H-bond. However, analysis of the other derivatives in the set (C(O)CH₃, C(O)CFH₂ and C(O)CF₃) revealed that the alignment of dipoles was the dominant effect (brown arrows, Fig. 4D).⁴⁰ The absence of an unusually low or even negative A-value also provides evidence against an intramolecular H-bond.⁵¹ Interestingly, in the solid-state structure (Fig. 4C), the highest energy conformer (with dipoles aligned) is adopted, highlighting the stronger propensity of this moiety to engage in H-bonding interactions.In conclusion, we have developed a mono-selective hydrodefluorination to access a broad scope of DFMKs, enabled by non-protic electrochemical conditions at deeply reducing potentials. These moieties have been studied and diversified and reveal themselves to be potentially useful dual H-bond donor/acceptor moieties. This is especially interesting considering the structurally related trifluoromethylketones are known reversible protease inhibitors;^54,55 thus, the additional H-bonding moiety could enhance interaction within enzymatic active sites.¹⁵     

Three-component 1,2-carboamination of vinyl boronic esters via amidyl radical induced 1,2-migration

Three-component 1,2-carboamination of vinyl boronic esters with alkyl/aryl lithium reagents and N-chloro-carbamates/carboxamides is presented. Vinylboron ate complexes generated in situ from the boronic ester and an organo lithium reagent are shown to react with readily available N-chloro-carbamates/carboxamides to give valuable 1,2-aminoboronic esters. These cascades proceed in the absence of any catalyst upon simple visible light irradiation. Amidyl radicals add to the vinylboron ate complexes followed by oxidation and 1,2-alkyl/aryl migration from boron to carbon to give the corresponding carboamination products. These practical cascades show high functional group tolerance and accordingly exhibit broad substrate scope. Gram-scale reaction and diverse follow-up transformations convincingly demonstrate the synthetic potential of this method.

Three-component 1,2-carboamination of vinyl boronic esters with alkyl/aryl lithium reagents and N-chloro-carbamates/carboxamides is presented.

Alkenes are important and versatile building blocks in organic synthesis. 1,2-Difunctionalization of alkenes offers a highly valuable synthetic strategy to access 1,2-difunctionalized alkanes by sequentially forming two vicinal σ-bonds.^1a–h Among these vicinal difunctionalizations, the 1,2-carboamination of alkenes, in which a C–N and a C–C bond are formed, provides an attractive route for the straightforward preparation of structurally diverse amine derivatives (Scheme 1a).^2a–c Along these lines, transition-metal-catalyzed or radical 1,2-carboaminations of activated and unactivated alkenes have been reported.^3a–p However, the 1,2-carboamination of vinylboron reagents, a privileged class of olefins,^4a–h to form valuable 1,2-aminoboron compounds which can be readily used in diverse downstream functionalizations,^{5a–c,6a–d} has been rarely investigated. To the best of our knowledge, there are only two reported examples, as shown in Schemes 1b and c. In 2013, Molander disclosed a Rh-catalyzed 1,2-aminoarylation of potassium vinyltrifluoroborate with benzhydroxamates via C–H activation (Scheme 1b).⁷ Thus, the 1,2-carboamination of vinylboron reagents is still underexplored but highly desirable.Open in a separate windowScheme 1Intermolecular 1,2-carboamination of alkenes.1,2-Alkyl/aryl migrations induced by β-addition to vinylboron ate complexes have been shown to be highly reliable for 1,2-difunctionalization of vinylboron reagents (Scheme 1c).^4d–h In 1967, Zweifel''s group developed 1,2-alkyl/aryl migrations of vinylboron ate complexes induced by an electrophilic halogenation.⁸ In 2016, the Morken group reported the electrophilic palladation-induced 1,2-alkyl/aryl migration of vinylboron ate complexes.^9a–k Shortly thereafter, we,^10a–c Aggarwal,^11a–c and Renaud¹² developed alkyl radical induced 1,2-alkyl/aryl migrations of vinylboron ate complexes. In these recent examples, the migration is induced by a C-based radical/electrophile, halogen and chalcogen electrophiles.^13a,bIn contrast, N-reagent-induced migration of vinylboron ate complexes proceeding via β-amination is not well investigated. To our knowledge, as the only example the Aggarwal laboratory described the reaction of a vinylboron ate complex with an aryldiazonium salt as the electrophile, but the desired β-aminated rearrangement product was formed in only 9% NMR yield (Scheme 1c).^13a No doubt, β-amino alkylboronic esters would be valuable intermediates in organic synthesis. Encouraged by our continuous work on amidyl radicals^14a–i and 1,2-migrations of boron ate complexes,^{10a–c,15a–f} we therefore decided to study the amidyl radical-induced carboamination of vinyl boronic esters for the preparation of 1,2-aminoboronic esters. N-chloroamides were chosen as N-radical precursors,^16a–c as these N-chloro compounds can be easily prepared from the corresponding N–H analogues.¹⁷ Herein, we present a catalyst-free three-component 1,2-carboamination of vinyl boronic esters with N-chloroamides and readily available alkyl/aryl lithium reagents (Scheme 1d).We commenced our study by exploring the reaction of the vinylboron ate complex 2a with tert-butyl chloro(methyl)carbamate 3a applying photoredox catalysis. Complex 2a was generated in situ by addition of n-butyllithium to the boronic ester 1a in diethyl ether at 0 °C. After solvent removal, the photocatalyst fac-Ir(ppy)₃ (1 mol%) and THF were added followed by the addition of 3a. Upon blue LED light irradiation, the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 16 hours. To our delight, the desired 1,2-aminoboronic ester 4a was obtained, albeit with low yield (26%, EntryPhotocatalystSolventT (°C)Yield^b (%)1 fac-Ir(ppy)₃THFrt262 fac-Ir(ppy)₃DMSOrt23 fac-Ir(ppy)₃MeCNrt564Ru(bpy)₃Cl₂·6H₂OMeCNrt695Na₂Eosin YMeCNrt696^cNa₂Eosin YMeCNrt707^cNoneMeCNrt458^cNoneMeCN0789^cNoneMeCN−2088 (85)10^c,dNoneMeCN−202Open in a separate window^aReaction conditions: 1a (0.20 mmol), ⁿBuLi (0.22 mmol), in Et₂O (2 mL), 0 °C to rt, 1 h, under Ar. After vinylboron ate complex formation, solvent exchange to the selected solvent (2 mL) was performed.^bGC yield using n-C₁₄H₃₀ as an internal standard; yield of isolated product is given in parentheses.^c4 mL MeCN was used.^dReaction carried out in the dark.With optimal conditions in hand, we then investigated the scope of this new 1,2-carboamination protocol keeping 2a as the N-radical acceptor (Scheme 2). This transformation turned out to be compatible with various primary amine reaction partners bearing carbamate (4a, 4b and 4d–4g) or acyl protecting groups (4c) (20–85%). Notably, N-chlorolactams can be used as N-radical precursors, as shown by the successful preparation of 4h (71%). Moreover, Boc-protected ammonia was also tolerated, delivering 4i in an acceptable yield (55%).Open in a separate windowScheme 21,2-Carboamination of 1a with various amidyl radical precursors. Reaction conditions: 1a (0.20 mmol, 1.0 equiv.), ⁿBuLi (0.22 mmol, 1.1 equiv.), in Et₂O (2 mL), 0 °C to rt, 1 h, under Ar; then [N]-Cl (0.24 mmol, 1.2 equiv.), −20 °C, 16 h, in MeCN (4 mL). Yields given correspond to yields of isolated products. ^aA solution of [N]-Cl (0.30 mmol, 1.5 equiv.) in MeCN (1 mL) was used. See the ESI^† for experimental details.We continued the studies by testing a range of vinylboron ate complexes (Scheme 3). To this end, various vinylboron ate complexes were generated by reacting the vinyl boronic ester 1a with methyllithium, n-hexyllithium, isopropyllithium and tert-butyllithium. For the n-alkyl-substituted vinylboron ate complexes, the 1,2-carboamination worked smoothly to afford 4j and 4k in good yields. However, the vinylboron ate complex derived from isopropyllithium addition provided the desired products in much lower yield (4l, 18% yield). When tert-butyllithium was employed, only a trace of the targeted product was detected (see ESI^†). As expected, cascades comprising a 1,2-aryl migration from boron to carbon worked well. Thus, by using PhLi for vinylboron ate complex formation, the 1,2-aminoboronic esters 4m–4o were obtained in 69–73% yields with the Boc (t-BuOCONClMe), ethoxycarbonyl-(EtOCONClMe) and methoxycarbonyl (Moc)-(MeOCONClMe) protected N-chloromethylamines (for the structures of 3, see ESI^†) as radical amination reagents. Keeping 3b as the N-donor, other aryllithiums bearing various functional groups at the para position of the aryl moiety, such as methoxy (4p), trimethylsilyl (4q), methyl (4r), phenyl (4s), trifluoromethoxy (4t), trifluoromethyl (4u), and halides (4v–4x) all reacted well in this transformation. Aryl groups bearing meta substituents are also tolerated, as documented by the preparation of 4y (81%). To our delight, a boron ate complex generated with a 3-pyridyl lithium reagent engaged in the cascade and the carboamination product 4z was isolated in high yield (82%).Open in a separate windowScheme 3Scope of vinylboron ate complexes. Reaction conditions: 1 (0.20 mmol, 1.0 equiv.), R_MLi (0.22 mmol, 1.1 or 1.3 equiv.), Et₂O or THF, under Ar; then [N]-Cl (0.30 mmol, 1.5 equiv.), −20 °C, 16 h, in MeCN. Yields given correspond to yields for isolated products. See the ESI^† for experimental details.The reason for the dramatic reduction in yield when α-branched alkyllithium or electron-rich aryllithium reagents were used might be that the corresponding vinylboron ate complexes could be oxidized by N-chloroamides via a single-electron oxidation process.^18a–e Furthermore, the α-unsubstituted vinyl boronic ester and vinyl boronic ester bearing various α-substituents are suitable N-radical acceptors and the corresponding products 4aa–4ac were obtained in 48–70% yield.To gain insights into the mechanism of this 1,2-carboamination, a control experiment was conducted. The reaction could be nearly fully suppressed when the reaction was carried out in the presence of a typical radical scavenger (2,2-6,6-tetramethyl piperidine-N-oxyl, TEMPO), indicating a radical mechanism (Scheme 4a). Further, considering an ionic process, the N-chloroamides would react as Cl⁺-donors that would lead to Zweifel-type products, which were not observed under the applied conditions. The proposed mechanism is shown in Scheme 4b. As chloroamides have been recently proposed to undergo homolysis under visible light irradiation,^19a,b we propose that initiation proceeds via homolytic N–Cl cleavage generating the electrophilic amidyl radical A, which then adds to the electron-rich vinylboron ate complex 2a to give the adduct boronate radical B. The radical anion B then undergoes single electron transfer (SET) oxidation with 3a in an electron-catalyzed process^20a,b or chloride atom transfer with 3a to provide C or D along with the amidyl radical A, thereby sustaining the radical chain. Intermediates C or D can then react via a boronate 1,2-migration^10c,11c,21 to eventually give the isolated product 4a.Open in a separate windowScheme 4Control experiment and proposed mechanism.To document the synthetic utility of the method, a larger-scale reaction and various follow-up transformations were conducted. Gram-scale reaction of 2a with 3a afforded the desired product 4a in good yield, demonstrating the practicality of this transformation (Scheme 5a). Oxidation of 4a with NaBO₃ provided the β-amino alcohol 5 in 89% yield (Scheme 5b). The N-Boc homoallylic amine 6 was obtained by Zweifel-olefination with a commercially available vinyl Grignard reagent and elemental iodine in good yield (79%).²² Heteroarylation of the C–B bond in 4a was realized by oxidative coupling of 4a with 2-thienyl lithium to provide 7.²³Open in a separate windowScheme 5Gram-scale reaction and follow-up chemistry.In summary, we have described an efficient method for the preparation of 1,2-aminoboronic esters from vinyl boronic esters via catalyst-free three-component radical 1,2-carboamination. Readily available N-chloro-carbamates/carboxamides, which are used as the N-radical precursors, react efficiently with in situ generated vinylboron ate complexes to afford the corresponding valuable 1,2-aminoboronic esters in good yields. The reaction features broad substrate scope and high functional group tolerance. The value of the introduced method was documented by Gram-scale reaction and successful follow-up transformations.     

0D–1D hybrid nanoarchitectonics: tailored design of FeCo@N–C yolk–shell nanoreactors with dual sites for excellent Fenton-like catalysis

Heterogeneous Fenton-like processes are very promising methods of treating organic pollutants through the generation of reactive oxygen containing radicals. Herein, we report novel 0D–1D hybrid nanoarchitectonics (necklace-like structures) consisting of FeCo@N–C yolk–shell nanoreactors as advanced catalysts for Fenton-like reactions. Each FeCo@N–C unit possesses a yolk–shell structure like a nanoreactor, which can accelerate the diffusion of reactive oxygen species and guard the active sites of FeCo. Furthermore, all the nanoreactors are threaded along carbon fibers, providing a highway for electron transport. FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces thereby exhibit excellent performance for pollutant removal via activation of peroxymonosulfate, achieving 100% bisphenol A (k = 0.8308 min⁻¹) degradation in 10 min with good cycling stability. The experiments and density-functional theory calculations reveal that FeCo dual sites are beneficial for activation of O–O, which is crucial for enhancing Fenton-like processes.

Novel 0D–1D hybrid nanoarchitectonics consisting of FeCo@N–C yolk–shell nanoreactors are developed for Fenton-like reaction. With the multilevel advantages of this design, FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces exhibit excellent performance for BPA removal.

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are one of the most promising strategies to eliminate organic contaminants, sustainably generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) to ideally destroy all non-biodegradable, recalcitrant, toxic, or membrane-permeable organic impurities.^1–4 Among these AOPs, sulfate radical (SO₄˙⁻)-based Fenton-like processes have gained increasing attention as a water treatment strategy because of the strong oxidation potential of SO₄˙⁻ (3.1 V vs. normal hydrogen electrode) at wider pH ranges. SO₄˙⁻ is mainly produced by physical or chemical methods for activation of persulfate salts, such as peroxymonosulfate (PMS) and persulfate.^5–9 Over the past two decades, heterogeneous catalysis has emerged as the most effective approach to water treatment, with much effort dedicated to developing better catalysts, including transition metal-based and carbonaceous materials.^10,11 Unfortunately, most metal-based catalysts suffer from leaching of toxic metal ions, which can thwart their practical application,^12,13 and although carbonaceous catalysts produce no secondary pollution, their cycle performance is always depressed.¹⁴ There is therefore an urgent need to find robust catalysts with adequate activity and stability for Fenton-like processes.To achieve superior performance, an ideal Fenton-like catalyst should contain oxidants with favorably reactive centers for cleavage of peroxyl bonds (O–O), have structure optimized for target pollutant attraction, and have chainmail to protect the vulnerable active sites for long periods.^15–17 Recent studies have demonstrated Co–N–C active sites prefer to activate the O–O of PMS.¹⁸ Furthermore, introducing Fe-doping into the Co–N–C system not only suppresses Co²⁺ leaching, but also modulates the pyrrolic-N content, which is the adsorption site for capture of bisphenol A (BPA).¹⁹ We previously discovered that Co@C yolk–shell nanoreactors could enhance the catalytic activity because of the confinement effect in the nano-spaces between the core and shell, while the carbon shell acted like a chainmail protecting the Co active sites, keeping them highly reactive after five cycles.^20,21Combining different kinds of materials to generate novel hybrid material interfaces can enable the creation of new kinds of chemical and physical functionalities that do not currently exist. However, one cannot simply mix these materials in an uncontrolled manner, because the ensemble of interfaces created by random mixing tends to favour thermodynamically stable interfaces that are functionally less active. Therefore, to prepare new materials with high functionality, it is necessary to carefully control the hybridization of components in interfacial regions with nanometric or atomic precision. By further hybridization of different components e.g., zero to one dimension (0D–1D) hybrid structures, we can prepare the structure to increase not only the specific surface area but also the interfacial region between different materials.In this work, we report novel 0D–1D hybrid nanoarchitectonics (necklace-like structures) consisting of FeCo@N–C yolk–shell nanoreactors as a PMS activator for Fenton-like processes. This catalyst has multilevel advantages: (i) each FeCo@N–C unit is a well-formed yolk–shell nanoreactor, which can guarantee sufficient contact of reactants and active sites, as well as defend them for good durability; (ii) all single nanoreactors are threaded along the carbon fibers, providing a highway for electron transport; and (iii) all the carbon fibers constructed into a thin film with macroscopic structure, which overcomes the complex recyclability of powder catalysts. Benefiting from favorable composition and unique structure, the FeCo@N–C catalyst delivers excellent performance for BPA removal via activation of PMS accompanied with good stability.The synthesis processes of necklace-like nanoarchitecture containing FeCo@N–C yolk–shell nanoreactors are illustrated in Fig. 1a. First, uniform Fe–Co Prussian blue analogue (Fe–Co PBA) nanocubes with an average size of 800–900 nm (Fig. 1b) are encapsulated in polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers by electrospinning. The obtained necklace-like FeCo PBA–PAN fibers (Fig. 1c) are then pyrolyzed at 800 °C in N₂ atmosphere to produce FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image (Fig. 1d) of the FeCo@N–C shows this necklace-like morphology with its large aspect ratio, with the FeCo@N–C particles strung along the PAN-derived carbon fibers. A broken particle (Fig. 1e) shows that the FeCo@N–C has a yolk–shell architecture, which is also identified by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Fig. 1f and g show the well-defined space between the inner yolk and outer shell, which is attributed to the volume shrinkage of the original Fe–Co PBAs. During pyrolysis, Fe–Co PBA is reduced to FeCo (inner yolk) and PAN is carbonized (outer carbon shell), resulting in the unique necklace-like nanoarchitecture.^22–24 The high-resolution TEM in Fig. 1h shows a lattice fringe of 0.20 nm, which matches well with the (110) plane of FeCo alloy.²⁵ The scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) image (Fig. 1i) and corresponding elemental map (Fig. 1j) indicate that FeCo nanocrystals are well distributed in the inner core with some small FeCo nanocrystals located on external carbon shells. Furthermore, the control samples of Fe@N–C and Co@N–C nano-necklaces, prepared by only replacing the Fe–Co PBA nanocubes with Fe–Fe PB and Co–Co PBA (Fig. S1^†), also demonstrate the versatility of this synthetic strategy. The formation of hierarchical porous structure, beneficial to the PMS transportation on the surface of catalysts, could be determined by N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherms and corresponding pore volume analysis (Fig. S2 and Table S1^†).Open in a separate windowFig. 1(a) Preparation of FeCo@N–C necklace-like nanoarchitecture. SEM images of (b) Fe–Co PBA cubic particles and (c) the electrospun FeCo PBA–PAN fibers. (d and e) SEM, (f and g) TEM, and (h) high-resolution TEM images of FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces. (i) STEM and (j) the corresponding elemental mappings of C, N, Fe, and Co.The X-ray diffraction patterns of the as-prepared products are depicted in Fig. S3,^† with one prominent diffraction peak centered at 44.8° corresponding to the (110) lattice plane of FeCo alloy. All the products also have a characteristic signal at 26°, implying that graphite carbon is formed during pyrolysis. Raman spectroscopy further analyzed the crystal structures and defects of the FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces (Fig. S4^†), where peaks found at 1349 cm⁻¹ and 1585 cm⁻¹ index the disordered (D band) and graphitic carbon (G band), respectively.²⁶ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy investigated the composition and valence band spectra of FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces. The survey spectrum (Fig. S5a^†) reveals the presence of Fe (1.4%), Co (1.2%), C (86.4%), N (4.5%), and O (6.5%) in the composite. The high-resolution N 1s spectrum (Fig. S5b^†) exhibits broad peaks at 398.1, 401.1, and 407.4 eV, corresponding to the pyridinic-N, graphitic-N, and σ* excitation of C–N, respectively.²⁷ The high-resolution Fe 2p spectrum (Fig. S5c^†) shows a broad peak at 707.4 eV, attributed to Fe⁰. Similarly, the 777.5 eV peak observed in the Co 2p spectrum (Fig. S5d^†) corresponds to Co⁰, implying that FeCo dual sites have formed.²⁸ The oxidation state of these sites was investigated by ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, which found a sextet in the Mössbauer spectrum of the FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces attributed to FeCo dual sites (Fig. 2a and Table S2^†).²⁹ The coordination environment of the FeCo dual sites was also verified by X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy. Fig. 2b shows that the X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectra of the Fe K-edge, which demonstrates a similar near-edge structure to that of Fe foil, illustrating that the main valence state of Fe in FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces is Fe⁰. Furthermore, the extended-XAFS (EXAFS) spectra (Fig. 2c) displays a peak at 1.7 Å, which is ascribed to the Fe–N bond, and a remarkable peak at approximately 2.25 Å corresponding to the metal–metal band.^10,30 The Co K-edge and EXAFS spectra (Fig. S6^†) also confirm the presence of Co–N and the metal–metal band. These results provide a potential structure of the FeCo dual sites in the FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces, as illustrated in Fig. 2d.Open in a separate windowFig. 2(a) ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra of FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces at 298 K. (b) Fe K-edge XANES spectra of FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces and Fe foil. (c) Corresponding Fourier transformed k³-weighted of the EXAFS spectra for Fe K-edge. (d) Possible structure of the FeCo dual sites.This dual-metal center and necklace-like structure may be beneficial to enhance catalytic performance. Fig. 3a shows the Fenton-like performance for BPA degradation compared to Fe@N–C nano-necklaces, Co@N–C nano-necklaces, and FeCo@N–C particles (Fe–Co PBA directly carbonized without electrospinning). Here, the FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces display a higher catalytic performance, with BPA completely removed in 7 min. To clearly compare their catalytic behavior, the kinetics of BPA degradation was fitted by the first-order reaction. As shown in Fig. 3b, FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces exhibit the highest apparent rate constant (k = 0.83 min⁻¹), which is approximately 6.4, 2.6, and 1.2 times that of FeCo@N–C particles, Fe@N–C nano-necklaces, and Co@N–C nano-necklaces, respectively. The significantly enhanced performance of FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces suggests that the FeCo dual sites and necklace-like nanoarchitecture are crucial. Furthermore, the concentration of BPA and PMS in the solution is higher than that in yolk–shell nanoreactor, resulting a concentration gradient which helps to accelerate the diffusion rates of reactants (Fig. 3c).^31,32 For these nano-necklaces, the carbon shell acts like a chainmail protecting the FeCo active sites from attack by molecules and ions, and all the nanoreactors are threaded along the carbon fibers, providing a highway for electron transport, which is important for SO₄˙⁻ generation (SO₄˙⁻ production as eqn, HSO₅⁻ + e⁻ → SO₄˙⁻ + OH⁻). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy further confirms the good conductivity of the FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces (Fig. 3d). In addition, the concentration of metal-ion leaching and cycling performance (Fig. 3e and f) reveal the high reusability of FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces, with 95% BPA removal in 20 min after five cycles, which is also proved by the SEM and TEM characterization (Fig. S7^†). The effect of other reaction parameters on the BPA degradation, such as pH, reaction temperature, PMS or catalysts dosage, and common anions, were investigated in detail (Fig. S8–S11^†). All the results demonstrate that FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces deliver a better performance for PMS catalysis. In addition, the turnover frequency (TOF) value of FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces is 5.5 min⁻¹ for BPA degradation, which is higher than many previously reported catalysts (detailed catalytic performance comparison as shown in Table S3^†).Open in a separate windowFig. 3(a) BPA degradation efficiency in different reaction systems and (b) the corresponding reaction rate constants. (c) Schematic illustration of PMS activation in FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces. (d) Nyquist plots of the catalysts. (e) The metal leaching in different reaction systems. (f) Cycling performance of FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces for BPA removal. Reaction conditions: [catalyst] = 0.15 g L⁻¹, [BPA] = 20 mg L⁻¹, [PMS] = 0.5 g L⁻¹, T = 298 K, and initial pH = 7.0.To examine the enhanced catalytic activity, radical quenching experiments were conducted. As shown in Fig. 4a, when NaN₃ is added to the reaction solution as a scavenger for ¹O₂, there is no significant reduction of BPA decomposition, implying that non-radicals are not the dominant reactive species. By comparison, when tert-butanol (TBA) (radical scavenger for ˙OH) is added, there is a slight (2.8%) decrease in BPA removal. However, if methanol (radical scavenger for SO₄˙⁻ and ˙OH) is added, the efficiency of BPA degradation declines by up to 59.2%, indicating that the major radicals generated from the PMS activation are SO₄˙⁻;³³ the presence of these radicals is also verified by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) (Fig. 4b). Furthermore, the significant inhibition ratio can be observed when KI (quencher for the surface) is added, demonstrating that BPA degradation is mainly attributed to reactions with SO₄˙⁻, which is produced by a surface catalytic process.³⁴Open in a separate windowFig. 4(a) Effects of the radical scavengers on BPA degradation. (b) EPR spectra of SO₄˙⁻ and ˙OH. (c) The energy profiles of PMS on FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces surface. (d) Optimized configurations of PMS adsorbed on FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces.Density-functional theory was applied to calculate the surface energy of PMS activation at FeCo dual sites (Fig. 4c, d and S12^†). The dissociation barrier of PMS into SO₄˙⁻ and OH⁻ is −2.25 eV, which is much lower than that on an Fe or Co single site, suggesting that cleavage of O–O bonds of PMS occurs more easily on FeCo dual sites. This is because FeCo dual sites provide two anchoring sites for the dissociated O atoms, leading to more efficient activation of O–O. The FeCo@N–C nano-necklaces can reduce the energy barrier of O–O bond breaking, which results in high activity for PMS activation and thus high productivity of SO₄˙⁻.     

Pyridylphosphonium salts as alternatives to cyanopyridines in radical–radical coupling reactions

Radical couplings of cyanopyridine radical anions represent a valuable technology for functionalizing pyridines, which are prevalent throughout pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and materials. Installing the cyano group, which facilitates the necessary radical anion formation and stabilization, is challenging and limits the use of this chemistry to simple cyanopyridines. We discovered that pyridylphosphonium salts, installed directly and regioselectively from C–H precursors, are useful alternatives to cyanopyridines in radical–radical coupling reactions, expanding the scope of this reaction manifold to complex pyridines. Methods for both alkylation and amination of pyridines mediated by photoredox catalysis are described. Additionally, we demonstrate late-stage functionalization of pharmaceuticals, highlighting an advantage of pyridylphosphonium salts over cyanopyridines.

Cyanopyridines form dearomatized radical anions upon single-electron reduction and participate in photoredox coupling reactions. Pyridylphosphonium salts replicate that reactivity with a broader scope and increase the utility of these processes.

Modern photoredox catalysis and electrochemistry have enabled new synthetic methods that proceed via open-shell intermediates.¹ Under this regime, pyridine functionalization strategies have been developed where 4-cyanopyridines undergo single-electron reduction to form dearomatized radical species that couple with other stabilized radicals (Scheme 1A).² The cyano group is critical for efficient reactivity via pyridyl radical anions; alternatives such as 4-halopyridines more readily undergo elimination to pyridyl radicals after single-electron reduction resulting in a distinct set of coupling processes.³ We aimed to show that pyridylphosphonium salts could replicate the reactivity of cyanopyridines and allow a broader set of inputs into dearomatized pyridyl radical coupling reactions.⁴Open in a separate windowScheme 1Expansion of radical coupling reactions to complex pyridines.Cyanopyridines have facilitated pyridine alkylation, allylation, and alkenylation reactions providing access to valuable building blocks for medicinal and agrochemical programs.⁵ The cyano group is essential for these methods, but a problem arises when applying this chemistry to complex pyridines, such as those found in pharmaceutical and agrochemical candidates. These structures are often devoid of pre-installed functional groups, and it is often challenging to install a cyano group from C–H precursors regioselectively.⁶ We envisioned pyridylphosphonium salts, regioselectively constructed from the C–H bonds of a diverse set of pyridines, could serve as alternatives to cyanopyridines.⁷ Herein, we report couplings between alkyl BF₃K salts and preliminary studies of carboxylic acids and amines with pyridylphosphonium salts, including late-stage functionalization of complex pyridine-containing pharmaceuticals using this strategy.Recently, we reported a radical coupling reaction between a boryl-stabilized cyanopyridyl radical and a boryl-stabilized pyridylphosphonium radical.^7a The intermediate radicals arose via an unusual inner-sphere process that would be difficult to extend to other coupling reactions. A significant advance would be to show that pyridylphosphonium salts could function more generally as radical anion precursors and mimic the reactivity of cyano-pyridines. In particular, showing their viability in photoredox and electrochemical processes would translate to numerous synthetic transformations. To demonstrate this principle, we envisioned a redox-neutral alkylation reaction (Scheme 1B) via a radical coupling between radical zwitterion I, formed through single-electron reduction of a pyridylphosphonium salt (E^red_p/2 = −1.51 V vs. SCE) and benzyl radical II, resulting from single-electron oxidation of a BF₃K salt (E^red = +1.10 V vs. SCE for a primary benzylic salt).⁸ Loss of triphenylphosphine from dearomatized intermediate (III) would furnish the alkylated pyridine product. Notably, the redox events could invert, where the photocatalyst oxidizes the BF₃K salt first and reduces the pyridylphosphonium salt second, broadening the scope of amenable photocatalysts.We began our investigation by examining a series of photocatalysts for the coupling reaction of phosphonium salt 1a, formed with complete regioselectivity for the 4-position from 2-phenylpyridine, and benzylic BF₃K salt 2a under irradiation from a 455 nm Kessil light (Scheme 1B are potentially interchangeable.^1b The Adachi-type photocatalyst 3DPAFIPN improved the yield to 77% with a further increase to 82% after increasing the reaction concentration (entries 3 and 4). Adding 2,6-lutidine, previously shown as an effective additive for photoredox cross-coupling reactions of BF₃K salts by the Molander group,⁹ had no impact on the yield of 2-phenylpyridine salt 1a (entry 5) and the [Ir(ppy)₂(dtbbpy)]PF₆ catalyst was marginally less efficient under the same conditions (entry 6). We observed that 2,6-lutidine did substantially improve the yield when isomeric 3-Ph salt 1b was employed (entries 7 and 8); without 2,6-lutidine, the crude ¹H NMR indicates significant amounts of decomposition occurred, including 3-phenylpyridine, and the 4- vs. 2-position product ratio was 3 : 1. This outcome suggests that protiodephosphination and non-selective Minisci-type pathways can occur under these conditions. With 2,6-lutidine, the crude reaction pathway is cleaner, and the 4- vs. 2-position ratio improved to 8 : 1. At this point, we have not established the role of 2,6-lutidine, although it is conceivable that it reacts with BF₃ produced as the reaction progresses. In 2-substituted systems, steric hindrance around the pyridine N-atom of the salt would deter BF₃-coordination, whereas, in 3-substituted systems, such as salt 1b, coordination is more likely and may have a deleterious effect on the reaction (vide infra). Given the structural variation of pyridines that we anticipated applying to this process and how those structures could impact boron speciation during the reaction, we elected to use 2,6-lutidine as an additive in all subsequent reactions.¹⁰Optimization of pyridine alkylation, photocatalyst data and effect of BF₃·OEt₂ as an additive^a

Assembly of multicyclic isoquinoline scaffolds from pyridines: formal total synthesis of fredericamycin A

The construction of an isoquinoline skeleton typically starts with benzene derivatives as substrates with the assistance of acids or transition metals. Disclosed here is a concise approach to prepare isoquinoline analogues by starting with pyridines to react with β-ethoxy α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds under basic conditions. Multiple substitution patterns and a relatively large number of functional groups (including those sensitive to acidic conditions) can be tolerated in our method. In particular, our protocol allows for efficient access to tricyclic isoquinolines found in hundreds of natural products with interesting bioactivities. The efficiency and operational simplicity of introducing structural complexity into the isoquinoline frameworks can likely enable the collective synthesis of a large set of natural products. Here we show that fredericamycin A could be obtained via a short route by using our isoquinoline synthesis as a key step.

A concise approach for rapid assembly of multicyclic isoquinoline scaffolds from pyridines and β-ethoxy α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds was developed, which enabled the formal total synthesis of fredericamycin A.

Isoquinolines and their derivatives are common structural motifs in numerous natural products. Among them, the analogues of isoquinolines fused with rings from the benzene side such as 8-hydroxyisoquinolin-1[2H]-one (Fig. 1a) have been found in hundreds of natural products with interesting bioactivities.¹ For example, fredericamycin A and the related family members, isolated from Streptomyces griseus, show both antimicrobial and anti-tumor activities.² Ericamycin is a natural product isolated in the culture of Streptomyces varius n. sp. with anti-staphylococcal activities.³ Due to the widespread presence of isoquinolines in both natural and synthetic molecules, numerous approaches have been developed to assemble this class of scaffolds.⁴ The dominated strategies reported to date focus on forming the new pyridine ring of isoquinolines (Fig. 1b, left part). Classic methods include Bischler–Napieralski isoquinoline synthesis,^4a,b Pictet–Gams isoquinoline synthesis,^4a and Pomeranz–Fritsch reaction.^4a These reactions, proven to be useful since as early as 1893,⁵ have their own merits and limitations. For instance, high reaction temperature (e.g. reflux in toluene) and strong acids are typically required and thus functional group tolerance can become challenging. On the other side, the introduction of structural complexities and substitution patterns is constrained as the substrates have to be pre-settled to favor the formation of pyridine moieties. Here we report a new approach to prepare isoquinoline scaffolds by constructing a new benzene ring (Fig. 1b, right part).⁶ Our method starts with pyridine derivatives as the substrates to react with readily available β-ethoxy α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. The reaction cascade involves five main plausible mechanistic processes (Michael addition, Dieckmann condensation, elimination, aromatization and in situ methylation) to furnish isoquinoline-based products with medium to good yields. The tricyclic isoquinoline-containing products might serve as formal common starting points for rapid total synthesis of a large number of natural products, such as those exemplified in Fig. 1a. In the present study, we demonstrate that starting from the tricyclic isoquinoline adduct 6a prepared using our method, fredericamycin A can be synthesized in 8 steps (Fig. 1c). Our strategy for isoquinoline assembly offers complementary and in certain cases better solutions not readily provided by the classic methods. We expect our method to find impressive applications in concise modular synthesis of complex natural products and molecular libraries, especially those bearing isoquinoline units fused with additional cyclic structures.Open in a separate windowFig. 1Isoquinoline analogues and their synthesis.Our design and initial studies are illustrated in Scheme 1.⁷ We first used pyridine 1a to react with α-substituted cycloenones (2a–2d), in the hope of obtaining isoquinoline 3a as the target product (Scheme 1a). The use of 2a and 2b was inspired by studies from Tamura, in which α-Br in 1,4-naphthoquinone was used as a leaving group to form an aromatic ring.⁸ Unfortunately, no product was formed and most of the starting materials were recovered. When SPh (2c) or SOPh (2d) was incorporated at the α site of the cycloenone, side products 4a and 4b were isolated respectively in moderate yields. The Michael products 4a and 4b could not be further transformed into our desired cyclic product 3a under various conditions. We then studied the use of β-substituted cycloenones (2e–2g) to react with 1a (Scheme 1b). No reactions were observed when 2e or 2f was used. To our delight, when the halogen of 2e/2f was replaced with a methoxy unit (OCH₃, substrate 2g), an encouraging amount of annulation product 3a was detected (10% yield). A side product 5a was also obtained (5% yield) in this initial study and it couldn''t be further transformed into the annulation product 3a under various alkaline conditions. It is noteworthy that, while β-alkoxy cycloenones (specifically, only β-alkoxy cyclohexenones) have been used in Staunton–Weinreb annulation⁹ to prepare fused aromatic compounds, no examples for those containing a heterocyclic aromatic ring were reported.¹⁰ Even for the construction of an aromatic ring without any heteroatom, low yields (mostly ranging from 0 to 30%) often occurred for this type of annulation starting with β-alkoxy cycloenones,⁹ which severely hampered its usage in Staunton–Weinreb annulation for the total synthesis of natural products. Our initial results showcased the possibility of direct assembly of isoquinoline scaffolds from β-methoxy cyclopentenone for the first time, though also in a low yield of 10%.Open in a separate windowScheme 1Proposed routes and initial studies for isoquinoline synthesis.With the initial results in hand, we performed additional condition optimization (11 The β-methoxy cyclopentenone 2g could also react to give 6a in a lower yield of 65% (entry 3). Other bases [such as triethylenediamine (DABCO), diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU), 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP), lithium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide (LiHMDS) and potassium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide (KHMDS)] gave poorer results with yields ranging from 0 to 42% (entry 4). When THF was changed to other solvents, lower yields (<41%) were obtained (entry 5). Revising the ratio of 1a to 2h from 1 : 1.5 to 1.5 : 1 delivered 6a in 39% to 54% yields (entries 6–8). Lower reaction temperature (e.g. −78 °C) could not improve the outcome of this cascade transformation, but gave 23% yield of 6a together with 16% yield of recovered starting material 2h (entry 9). Long exposure to low temperature in step 1 could also lead to a considerable amount of the undesired elimination product 5a (ca. 29% yield), which was decomposed under the following methylation conditions (step 2). No product was observed in the absence of the methoxy group in 1a as it could stabilize the transition state via the formation of a metallate complex (entry 10).Screening of conditions^a

Stereoselective tandem iridium-catalyzed alkene isomerization-cope rearrangement of ω-diene epoxides: efficient access to acyclic 1,6-dicarbonyl compounds

The Cope rearrangement of 2,3-divinyloxiranes, a rare example of epoxide C–C bond cleavage, results in 4,5-dihydrooxepines which are amenable to hydrolysis, furnishing 1,6-dicarbonyl compounds containing two contiguous stereocenters at the 3- and 4-positions. We employ an Ir-based alkene isomerization catalyst to form the reactive 2,3-divinyloxirane in situ with complete regio- and stereocontrol, which translates into excellent control over the stereochemistry of the resulting oxepines and ultimately to an attractive strategy towards 1,6-dicarbonyl compounds.

Iridium catalyzed alkene isomerization-cope rearrangement of ω-diene epoxide furnishes 3,4-dihydrooxepines. These oxepines are hydrolyzed to diastereomerically pure 1,6-dicarbonyl compound containing two contiguous stereocenters within acyclic system.

1,6-Dicarbonyl compounds are widespread as targets and intermediates in organic synthesis.¹ Due to the “dissonant” polarizing effect induced by the two carbonyl groups,² these motifs are challenging to retrosynthetically disconnect into classical synthons. Unsurprisingly, many approaches toward 1,6-dicarbonyls rely on dimerization of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds (Scheme 1a)³ or oxidative cleavage of substituted cyclohexene derivatives⁴ which significantly limits the range of possible products. Alternative strategies, such as the ring-opening of donor–acceptor cyclopropanes with enolate nucleophiles, efficiently form the 1,6-dicarbonyl skeleton, albeit with limited substrate scope (Scheme 1b).⁵ The Cope rearrangement of 1,5-dienes, featuring oxygen functionality in the 3- and 4-positions,⁶ represents a promising strategy towards 1,6-dicarbonyl compounds but suffers from lack of stereocontrol over the diene substrates, resulting in diastereomeric mixtures of products (Scheme 1c).Open in a separate windowScheme 1Selected approaches towards the formation of 1,6-dicarbonyl compounds and our proposed approach.A conceptually related approach towards the preparation of 1,6-dicarbonyl compounds is through the hydrolysis of 3,4-dihydrooxepines (Scheme 1d), which are in turn generated through the Cope rearrangement of 2,3-divinyloxiranes.⁷ Such a sigmatropic rearrangement is also noteworthy as a rare example where an epoxide C–C bond is selectively cleaved over the usually more reactive C–O bond. This intriguing rearrangement has been studied but its use in synthesis is scarce, presumably due to difficulties in the stereoselective synthesis and handling of the key divinyl epoxides.In line with our interest in the strategic application of alkene isomerization to generate reactive synthetic intermediates in stereodefined form,⁸ we posited to form the reactive 2,3-divinyloxiranes in situ, through alkene isomerization^9,10 of the simpler allyl epoxides, which are accessible in enantiomerically enriched form.¹¹ Such a strategy might greatly facilitate access to these intermediates and therefore uncover a synthetically attractive route toward 1,6-dicarbonyl compounds featuring two contiguous stereocenters.With this idea in mind, we first explored the isomerization and subsequent Cope rearrangement of allyl-vinyl epoxides 1 (Scheme 2). To induce isomerization, we employed a cationic iridium-based catalytic system,¹² which is known to reliably isomerize alkenes with high degrees of regio- and stereocontrol.¹³Open in a separate windowScheme 2Substrate scope for the tandem iridium-catalyzed alkene isomerization-Cope rearrangement of allyl-vinyl epoxides.In line with our expectations, our model substrate 1a (R² = R³ = H, R⁴ = Me, R⁵ = CO₂Et) was smoothly isomerized at 65 °C in the presence of 1.5 mol% of Ir dimer to obtain the corresponding divinyl epoxide with a complete E-selectivity. With suitable conditions for alkene isomerization in hand, we exposed substrate 1a to the Ir-based catalytic system at 120 °C and were equally pleased to observe the 4,5-dihydrooxepine product 2a, resulting from the tandem isomerization-Cope rearrangement as a single diastereoisomer in 81% yield. We proceeded to test the generality of our protocol with respect to different alkene and epoxide substitution patterns. Pleasingly, product 2b was generated with complete stereoselectivity, showcasing the compatibility of the reaction conditions with potentially labile tertiary stereocenters α to the ester group. We then wondered whether the anti-diastereomer could be accessed starting from the corresponding cis allyl-vinyl epoxide. Indeed, in line with the known stereospecific behavior of the Cope rearrangement, we obtained the complementary diastereomer 2c. Turning our attention to more highly substituted epoxides, we were pleased to observe the formation of dihydrooxepines 2d and 2e, which correspond to 1,6-keto-aldehyde and diketone products, respectively. Substrate 1f (R² = R⁴ = R⁵ = H, R³ = Ph), which features an unactivated vinyl group, also underwent the rearrangement, demonstrating that an activated alkenyl group is not required for a successful outcome. Similarly, product 2g featuring two alkyl groups is also generated, with high diastereoselectivity albeit in moderate yield. Products featuring ethyl and methyl ester 2h, 2i could also be obtained in good yields and diastereoselectivity. We next tested substrate 1j (R² = Me, R³ = Ph, R⁴ = CH₂CH₂Ph, R⁵ = H), as a geometric-mixture of the double bond (E : Z = 1.1 : 1) and in accordance with the stereospecificity of the process, the oxepine 2j was obtained as a mixture of two diastereomers with the same ratio. Disappointingly, substrate 1k did not undergo isomerization, presumably due to the Lewis basic nature of the ketone, likely poisoning the Ir-catalyst.During our study, we noticed that allyl-vinyl epoxides bearing electron donating groups on the vinyl moiety tend to decompose during purification by column chromatography on silica gel. This obstacle further motivated us to explore diallyl epoxides 3 as substrates, where the reactive divinyl epoxide would be generated by isomerization of both allyl fragments. Notably, these diallyl epoxides are much more stable compared to their vinyl counterparts and can be readily prepared in two steps from simple alkynes.¹⁴ To our delight, diallyl epoxide 3a (R = CH₂OMe) smoothly underwent the double isomerization-Cope rearrangement cascade at 140 °C, furnishing oxepine 2l with impressive yield and diastereoselectivity (Scheme 3). The use of alkene isomerization to form the reactive divinyl epoxide in situ avoids the isolation of the unstable divinyl epoxide, while controlling the stereochemistry of both double bonds, particularly not trivial to achieve using classical olefination reactions. Products 2m and 2n feature ester and silyl groups, highlighting the functional group tolerance of the catalytic system.Open in a separate windowScheme 3Substrate scope for tandem iridium-catalyzed double alkene isomerization-Cope rearrangement of diallyl epoxides.Our next objective was to hydrolyze the diastereomerically pure oxepines obtained through the rearrangement in a stereoretentive fashion, revealing the acyclic 1,6-dicarbonyl motif. Pleasingly, diversely substituted oxepines 2 underwent smooth hydrolysis either using 5 mol% of Pd(MeCN)₂Cl₂¹⁵ at 50 °C or an acidic aqueous solution to form 1,6-dicarbonyls 4 in diastereomerically pure form (Scheme 4).¹⁶ Dicarbonyl products featuring labile tertiary centers 4a and 4b are formed under these conditions with excellent diastereoselectivities and yields. Without surprise, oxepine 2f (R² = R⁴ = R⁵ = H, R³ = Ph) furnished the keto-substituted product 4c in good yield. The relative stereochemistry of 4b was unambiguously confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of the corresponding carboxylic acid 7 (Scheme 4b).¹⁷ The reaction is scalable to ½ gram of substrate and could be performed in a single-pot operation without isolation of the intermediate oxepine (Scheme 4b). By using this approach, 1h provides 4b in 61% yield as a single diastereomer, underlining the synthetic potential and efficiency of this method.Open in a separate windowScheme 4Hydrolysis of oxepines and one-pot sequence.     

A therapeutic keypad lock decoded in drug resistant cancer cells

A molecular keypad lock that displays photodynamic activity when exposed to glutathione (GSH), esterase and light in the given order, is fabricated and its efficacy in drug resistant MCF7 cancer cells is investigated. The first two inputs are common drug resistant tumor markers. GSH reacts with the agent and shifts the absorption wavelength. Esterase separates the quencher from the structure, further activating the agent. After these sequential exposures, the molecular keypad lock is exposed to light and produces cytotoxic singlet oxygen. Among many possible combinations, only one ‘key’ can activate the agent, and initiate a photodynamic response. Paclitaxel resistant MCF7 cells are selectively killed. This work presents the first ever biological application of small molecular keypad locks.

Information processing therapeutics with an implemented keypad lock logic gate selects input order for activation in drug resistant cancer cells.

The complex nature of diseases such as cancer necessitates smarter drugs that can discriminate each disease state or regulate drug efficacy spatially and/or temporally. With this intention, activatable drugs, drugs with on demand release properties are developed with promising selectivity.^1–4 Information processing therapeutics which are based on molecular logic gate operations are another approach to solve this problem.^5–7 Molecular logic gates are small compounds using Boolean logic operations to process inputs (i.e. the analyte concentration), and give an output as a result (fluorescence, and therapeutic activity etc.).⁸ Selective drug activation, release, multiple-analyte sensing and theranostic applications of these devices have been explored by us and others.^5,9–19Among the operations that can be carried out using small molecules, keypad locks provide an alternative application in information security.²⁰ This logic operation can give a specific output when the inputs are given in the correct form and correct sequence. For the device, each input is considered as an AND logic operation where the history of the process is also considered. A pioneering example was reported by Margulies and Shanzer in 2007 where energy transfer is modulated by chelation of Fe³⁺ in a pH dependent manner.²¹ Later, various other devices were introduced with advanced properties such as more than 2 input responsiveness and error detection capability.^22–24 All-photonic logic gates to address chemical waste production is extensively studied by Gust, Andréasson and Pischel.^25,26 Beside small molecule keypad locks, enzymes, antibodies, and DNA hybrids are used to achieve the same goal.^27–30 Although their potential use in molecular cryptology is highlighted, so far, there is no solid biological application of small molecule keypad locks.In the research presented here, a molecular keypad lock is developed which displays a photodynamic therapeutic output when a molecule is exposed to analytes in the correct order and type (PS3, Fig. 1). Two inputs of the system are chosen to be the common markers of drug resistant tumours: glutathione (GSH) and esterase enzyme (E). Cancer cells develop resistance to traditional chemotherapy in time by changing the protein expression or metabolite content of the cell. This adaptation of cancer cells is an obstacle for their treatment and needs to be addressed. Glutathione is a tripeptide used in reductive biochemical synthesis and it is known to be present in elevated levels in rapidly dividing cells such as cancer cells.³¹ A high GSH level is reported to contribute to drug resistance, since GSH adducts of the drugs are exported out of the cell much more rapidly.^32,33 Likewise, esterase enzyme activity is known to be associated with drug detoxification as this enzyme contributes to the chemical conversion of the drug.^34,35 Glutathione and esterase enzyme are chosen to be the first two inputs of the molecular keypad lock, the first two digits of the password. In the research, light is used as the final input. Although trivial, light is essential for photodynamic activity and spatiotemporal control of irradiation, further improving selectivity of the therapy.Open in a separate windowFig. 1Chemical structures of model photosensitizers (PS1 and PS2) and a molecular keypad lock (PS3). Ester bonds (red) are prone to hydrolysis by the esterase enzyme. Distyryl sites of the photosensitizers (blue) can react with thiol nucleophile provided that it is bound to an electron deficient group (i.e. pyri-dinium).Keypad lock PS3 is a photodynamic therapy (PDT) agent. PDT is a non-invasive method used for the treatment of surface cancers and certain other diseases ranging from atherosclerosis to macular degeneration.^36–39 In this therapy, a photosensitizer is excited with light, and produces cytotoxic singlet oxygen (¹O₂) thereby triggering apoptosis or necrosis of the cell, initiating an immune response and blocking microvasculature.⁴⁰ In the research, a boradiazaindecene (BODIPY) photosensitizer is used to benefit from versatile chemistry and spectroscopic properties.^41–45Near-IR absorbing PS3 shown in Fig. 1 is the molecular keypad lock and it is synthesized in 13 steps (Scheme S1^†). PS3 and model compound PS2 have heavy atoms on the structure to favour intersystem crossing required for transition to the triplet state and hence ¹O₂ generation occurs.⁴³ Ester bonds on the structure of PS3 are prone to cleavage by esterase enzyme. Distryryl bonds on the PS3 (blue) tend to reduce or form an adduct with thiol nucleophiles when it is activated by the pyridinium electron withdrawing group.⁴⁶ This property lies at the heart of sequential operation of esterase and GSH. When GSH reacts with electron poor double bonds, the extended conjugated structure is broken and PS3-a is generated (Fig. 2). This structure has absorption below 550 nm, like brominated core BODIPY molecules (compound 8, Scheme S1^†), and therefore can be excited with a green light. A quencher (green) is attached to ensure that photodynamic activity is OFF until esterase cleaves the ester bond. This is because of the energy transfer from the photosensitizer to this module, until esterase separates the photosensitizer. Since PS3 lacks absorption around the 500–550 nm region, it is inactive until GSH reacts with the compound. However, the GSH reacted photosensitizer does show absorption in this region; so, in order to avoid full activation just by GSH, a quencher module is attached. Spectral overlap between the BODIPY core (see the structure of compound 8 in the ESI,^† similar to that of PS3-a in terms of conjugation) and quencher (Q) can be seen from UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence spectra (Fig. 3 and S1^†). By this way, the photosensitizer is chemically modulated by GSH to ensure excitation, and then esterase enzyme inhibits energy transfer by removing the quencher. Lastly a green light is used to excite the photosensitizer leading to generation of photodynamic action. Since light is necessary for the final excitation of the molecule, it should always be the last input. If the order of esterase and GSH changes, as shown in Fig. 2, activation is not expected to take place since cleavage of the ester bonds generates 4-hydroxybenzyl derivative on PS3, which spontaneously faces 1,4-elimination to generate pyridine (Fig. S2^†).⁴⁷ Pyridine on its own is not sufficiently electron withdrawing to favour nucleophilic attack of double bonds by GSH and to activate it as demonstrated below. Therefore, the photosensitizer preserves extended conjugation and essentially lacks absorption at the wavelength of excitation.Open in a separate windowFig. 2Sequential operation of GSH and esterase. GSH can only react with BODIPY distyryl units when the structure has electron withdrawing pyridinium, either reducing it or forming an adduct. Esterase enzyme cleaves ester bonds, liberating the photosensitizer from the quencher module (green). Initial esterase activity converts the pyridinium unit to pyridine, thereby decreasing the reactivity of double bonds with GSH.Open in a separate windowFig. 3Normalized UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence spectra of PS1–3 in 2% water in THF (a and b). Samples are excited at 600 nm. Spectral changes of PS3 (10 μM) alone (black) or PS3 upon exposure to 0.5 mM GSH (c) and 10U esterase (d) for 90 min and 60 min at 37 °C, in 2% water in THF, respectively. A new peak at 544 nm appears upon incubation with GSH which is attributed to reduced PS3 and/orthe GSH-adduct. Esterase treatment increases the relative intensity of the shoulder peak around 600 nm.In order to understand the response of the PS3 to GSH, a molecule is incubated with 0.5 mM of GSH at 37 °C for 90 min. A new peak at 544 nm appears in UV-Vis absorption spectra consistent with the hypothesis (Fig. 3c, S1 and S9^†). The formation of the GSH adduct (PS3-a) is demonstrated by Liquid Chromatography Mass spectrometry analysis (Fig. S3^†). When control module PS1 is exposed to the same conditions, this new peak is not detected indicating that the pyridine bearing structure is neither activated enough for the nucleophilic substitution by GSH nor did it display PDT activity (Fig. S4 and S5^†). On the other hand, GSH treated pyridinium bearing PS2 immediately displayed a colour change indicative of broken conjugation (Fig. S6^†). When PS3 is incubated with esterase for 1 h, a small hypsochromic shift in the absorption peak is detected as a shoulder to the parent peak which is attributed to the conversion of pyridinium to pyridine (PS3-c, Fig. 3d). The control PS3 sample which is incubated under the same conditions but lacks esterase does not show an enhancement of this peak (Fig. 3d, black). High Resolution Mass Spectrometry analysis of the esterase treated PS2 samples confirm the hydrolysis of the ester and subsequent formation of the pyridine compound (Fig. S7^†). Esterase treated samples display an increase in the emission intensity when excited at 620 nm (Fig. S8^†). This is attributed to the initial quenching of the quencher module by the pyridinium photosensitizer. Analysis of the absorption and emission spectra suggest that the quencher module of PS3 can induce energy transfer to the pyridinium photosensitizer (Fig. 3). Once separated by esterase, fluorescence of the quencher module increases. In the case of GSH treated sample, a small enhancement in emission upon excitation at 500 nm is observed (Fig. S9^†). Note that the GSH adduct (or PS3 with reduced double bonds) has higher absorption at this wavelength, which would be the reason for the increase in emission intensity. In the spectral analysis organic solvents with a low water content are used to monitor the formation of water-insoluble, neutral, pyridine-bearing intermediate species.In the project, the molecular keypad lock is aimed to unlock in the presence of drug resistant tumour markers and get activated. Activation cannot take place when the input order differs. To demonstrate this, photodynamic action in the presence of all three inputs in a different order is investigated. ¹O₂ production can be followed by using trap molecule, 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran (DPBF).⁴⁸ This molecule reacts with ¹O₂ and loses its absorption at 418 nm. The effect of different input combinations on the PDT action are given in Fig. 4. In the first 15 min, all samples are kept in the dark. Under such conditions no ¹O₂ generation is detected, which indicates lack of dark activity. DPBF is exposed to light from a LED source (peak 505 nm) under the same experimental conditions and no decrease in the absorption is detected. This control experiment eliminates the photodegradation of DPBF in the absence of a photosensitizer. Upon irradiation before the activation of the photosensitizer by GSH and esterase, no ¹O₂ generation is observed as expected. The results show that ¹O₂ generation, and the subsequent decrease in DPBF absorption, are significantly more in the input order of glutathione, esterase enzyme and light, consistent with the proposed mode of activation.Open in a separate windowFig. 4 ¹O₂ generation ability of PS3 (0.1 μM) when three inputs are given in a different order. All samples contain 50 μM of ¹O₂ trap molecule DPBF. In the first 15 minutes samples are kept in the dark. GSH is added in 0.5 mM concentration and incubated for 90 min at 37 °C. Samples are incubated with 10U esterase for 1 h at 37 °C. An LED light is irradiated from a 30 cm distance for 45 min.To analyse the effect of PDT action in the cell, a drug resistant cell line is generated. MCF7 cells are exposed to an increased dose of traditional cancer therapeutic agent paclitaxel as described in the literature.⁴⁹ When the spindle-shaped morphology is obtained following maximum drug dose application, cells are reported to have drug resistance. At this stage, PS3 is applied to both normal and drug resistant cells. When cell viabilities at various concentrations are analysed, it has been found that the light toxicity of PS3 is significantly enhanced in drug resistant cells (Fig. 5). The IC50 values of irradiated samples are calculated to be 124.8 μM for MCF7 cells. This value is reduced to 52.5 μM in paclitaxel resistant MCF7 (Pac-MCF7) indicating improved cytotoxicity in these cells. Efficient induction of apoptosis is also proved by Annexin V and PI staining (Fig. 6). Under dark conditions, cells do not have significant loss of viability. Upon irradiation, resistant cells are more prone to apoptosis by the photosensitizer. Relative singlet oxygen generation abilities and results of cell culture experiments altogether confirm selective activation in drug resistant cells.Open in a separate windowFig. 5Change in the cell viability of normal and paclitaxel resistant MCF7 cells (Pac-MCF7) in the presence of PS3 at various concentrations. For each group, cell viability is analysed both after incubation in the dark or after irradiation with a 505 nm LED light source from a distance of 10 cm. Average values of three independent experiments are used.Open in a separate windowFig. 6Apoptosis induction by PS3 (25 μM) in normal and paclitaxel resistant MCF7 cancer cells under dark conditions and upon irradiation with a 505 nm LED light from 10 cm distance. Scale bars: 50 μm.