A 1H and 13C NMR study of methoxyretinoids. Spectral assignment and determination of configuration

A number of modified retinals and retinoic esters carrying one or two methoxy groups or one methoxy and one methyl group on the polyene chain were investigated by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. Spectral assignments were made from homo- and selective ¹³C{¹H} hetero-decoupling experiments and from chemical shift comparisons. The configurations of the polyene double bonds were derived from vicinal H,H coupling constants, from ¹H and ¹³C chemical shifts and by measuring nuclear Overhauser enhancements. It is found that all double bonds with no additional substituents occur in the trans (E) and all methoxy-substituted double bonds in the cis (also E) configuration. Double bonds carrying methyl groups give rise to both cis (Z) and trans (E) isomers.     

Surface oxidation process of a diamond‐like carbon film analyzed by difference X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Difference X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (D‐XPS) revealed the surface oxidation process of a diamond‐like carbon (DLC) film. Evaluation of surface functional groups on DLC solely by the C 1s spectrum is difficult because the spectrum is broad and has a secondary asymmetric lineshape. D‐XPS clarified the subtle but critical changes at the DLC surface caused by wet oxidation. The hydroxyl (C―OH) group was dominant at the oxidized surface. Further oxidized carbonyl (C?O) and carboxyl (including carboxylate) (COO) groups were also obtained; however, the oxidation of C?O to COO was suppressed to some extent because the reaction required C―C bond cleavage. Wet oxidation cleaved the aliphatic hydrogenated and non‐hydrogenated sp² carbon bonds (C―H sp² and C―C sp²) to create a pair of C―OH and hydrogenated sp³ carbon (C―H sp³) bonds. The reaction yield for C―H sp² was superior at the surface, suggesting that the DLC film was hydrogen rich at the surface. Oxidation of aromatic sp² rings or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as nanographite to phenols did not occur because of their resonance stabilization with electron delocalization. Non‐hydrogenated sp³ carbon (C―C sp³) bonds were not affected by oxidation, suggesting that these bonds are chemically inert. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Biotransformation of Aspen Lignin by the Fungus Trametes villosus

Quantitative ¹ H and ¹³ C NMR spectroscopies demonstrate that biotransformation of aspen wood by the fungusTrametes villosusresults in oxidation and destruction of lignin with cleavage of C-C alkyl-alkyl bonds in side chains and partial demethoxylation in addition to cleavage of lignocarbohydrate bonds. New C _ar -O-C bonds form while lignin is being destroyed at alkyl-alkyl bonds. Cleavage of rings and destruction of C _ar -C bonds was not observed.     

Regioselective Vinylation of Remote Unactivated C(sp3)−H Bonds: Access to Complex Fluoroalkylated Alkenes

Regioselective incorporation of a particular functional group into aliphatic sites by direct activation of unreactive C?H bonds is of great synthetic value. Despite advances in radical‐mediated functionalization of C(sp³)?H bonds by a hydrogen‐atom transfer process, the site‐selective vinylation of remote C(sp³)?H bonds still remains underexplored. Reported herein is a new protocol for the regioselective vinylation of unactivated C(sp³)?H bonds. The remote C(sp³)?H activation is promoted by a C‐centered radical instead of the commonly used N and O radicals. The reaction possesses high product diversity and synthetic efficiency, furnishing a plethora of synthetically valuable E alkenes bearing tri‐/di‐/mono‐fluoromethyl and perfluoroalkyl groups.     

Organopotassium-Catalyzed Silylation of Benzylic C(sp3)−H Bonds

Benzylsilanes have found increasing applications in organic synthesis as bench-stable synthetic intermediates, yet are mostly produced by stoichiometric procedures. Catalytic alternatives based on the atom-economical silylation of benzylic C(sp³)−H bonds remain scarcely available as specialized directing groups and catalytic systems are needed to outcompete the kinetically-favored silylation of C(sp²)−H bonds. Herein, we describe the first general and catalytic-in-metal undirected silylation of benzylic C(sp³)−H bonds under ambient, transition metal-free conditions using stable tert-butyl-substituted silyldiazenes (tBu−N=N−SiR₃) as silicon source. The high activity and selectivity of the catalytic system, exemplified by the preparation of various mono- or gem-bis benzyl(di)silanes, originates from the facile generation of organopotassium reagents, including tert-butylpotassium.     

Nickel‐Catalyzed Alkoxy–Alkyl Interconversion with Alkylborane Reagents through C−O Bond Activation of Aryl and Enol Ethers

A nickel‐catalyzed alkylation of polycyclic aromatic methyl ethers as well as methyl enol ethers with B‐alkyl 9‐BBN and trialkylborane reagents that involves the cleavage of stable C(sp²)?OMe bonds is described. The transformation has a wide substrate scope and good chemoselectivity profile while proceeding under mild reaction conditions; it provides a versatile way to form C(sp²)?C(sp³) bonds that does not suffer from β‐hydride elimination. Furthermore, a selective and sequential alkylation process by cleavage of inert C?O bonds is presented to demonstrate the advantage of this method.     

Asymmetric Organocatalytic Direct C(sp2)?H/C(sp3)?H Oxidative Cross‐Coupling by Chiral Iodine Reagents

An asymmetric organocatalytic direct C H/C H oxidative coupling reaction of N¹,N³‐diphenylmalonamides has been well established by using chiral organoiodine compounds as catalysts, wherein four C H bonds were stereoselectively functionalized to give structurally diverse spirooxindoles with high levels of enantioselectivity. More importantly, the findings indicated that chiral hypervalent organoiodine reagents can serve as alternative catalysts for the creation of enantioselective functionalization of inactive C H bonds.     

Asymmetric Organocatalytic Direct C(sp2)H/C(sp3)H Oxidative Cross‐Coupling by Chiral Iodine Reagents

An asymmetric organocatalytic direct C? H/C? H oxidative coupling reaction of N¹,N³‐diphenylmalonamides has been well established by using chiral organoiodine compounds as catalysts, wherein four C? H bonds were stereoselectively functionalized to give structurally diverse spirooxindoles with high levels of enantioselectivity. More importantly, the findings indicated that chiral hypervalent organoiodine reagents can serve as alternative catalysts for the creation of enantioselective functionalization of inactive C? H bonds.     

Redox‐Neutral Coupling between Two C(sp3)−H Bonds Enabled by 1,4‐Palladium Shift for the Synthesis of Fused Heterocycles

The intramolecular coupling of two C(sp³)?H bonds to forge a C(sp³)?C(sp³) bond is enabled by 1,4‐Pd shift from a trisubstituted aryl bromide. Contrary to most C(sp³)?C(sp³) cross‐dehydrogenative couplings, this reaction operates under redox‐neutral conditions, with the C?Br bond acting as an internal oxidant. Furthermore, it allows the coupling between two moderately acidic primary or secondary C?H bonds, which are adjacent to an oxygen or nitrogen atom on one side, and benzylic or adjacent to a carbonyl group on the other side. A variety of valuable fused heterocycles were obtained from easily accessible ortho‐bromophenol and aniline precursors. The second C?H bond cleavage was successfully replaced with carbonyl insertion to generate other types of C(sp³)‐C(sp³) bonds.     

Photoredox Nickel-Catalysed Stille Cross-Coupling Reactions

The Stille cross-coupling reaction is one of the most common strategies for the construction of C−C bonds. Despite notable strides in the advancement of the Stille reaction, persistent challenges persist in hindering its greener evolution. These challenges encompass multiple facets, such as the high cost of precious metals and ligands, the demand for various additives, and the slow reaction rate. In comparison to the dominant palladium-catalysed Stille reactions, cost-effective nickel-catalysed systems lag behind, and enantioconvergent Stille reactions of racemic stannanes remain undeveloped. Herein, we present a pioneering instance of nickel-catalysed enantioconvergent Stille cross-coupling reactions of racemic stannane reagents, resulting in the formation of C−C bonds in good to high yields with excellent stereoselectivity. This strategy provides a practical, scalable, and operationally straightforward method for the synthesis of C(sp³)−C(sp³), C(sp³)−C(sp²), and C(sp³)−C(sp) bonds under exceptionally mild conditions (without additives and bases, ambient temperature). The innovative use of synergistic photoredox/nickel catalysis enables a novel single-electron transmetalation process of stannane reagents, providing a new research paradigm of Stille reactions.     

Electronic states and nature of the chemical bond in the molecule CrC by all-electron ab initio calculations

All-electron ab initio Hartree–Fock (HF ), valence configuration interaction (CI ), and multiconfiguration self-consistent-field (CASSCF ) calculations have been applied to investigate the electronic states of the CrC molecule. The molecule is predicted as having four low-lying electronic states, ³∑^?, ⁵∑^?, ⁷∑^?, and ⁹∑^?, separated by an energy gap of 0.55 eV from the next higher-lying state, ¹∑^?, which is followed by the states ⁵Π and ⁷Π. The four lowest-lying electronic states are due to the coupling of the angular momenta of the ⁶S_g Cr⁺ ion with those of the ⁴S_u C^? anion. The chemical bond in the ³∑^? ground state can be viewed as a quadruple bond composed of two σ and two π bonds. One σ bond is due to the formation of a molecular orbital that is doubly occupied. The remaining bonds, i.e., one σ and two π bonds, arise from valence-bond couplings. The π bonds originate from the valence-bond couplings of the electrons in the C 2pπ orbitals with those in the Cr 3dπ orbitals. The σ bond originates from the valence-bond coupling of the C 2pσ electron with an electron in the Cr 4s, 4p hybrid that is polarized away from the C atom.     

α- and β-Eliminations in Transition Metal Complexes: Strategies to Cleave Unstrained C−C and C−F Bonds

Oxidative addition is the standard process for single-bond activation in transition metal catalysis and it is known to operate for many types of bonds, but challenging σ-bonds e. g. C(sp³)−F and C(sp³)−C(sp³) bonds are the exceptions in this respect. This short review aims at demonstrating how both α- and β-eliminations may be better options for activation of unstrained C−F and C−C single bonds. Selected examples of such eliminations are presented with a mechanistic focus indicating how unstrained and unactivated C−C and C−F bonds can be broken by employing α- and β-eliminations in transition metal hydrocarbyl ligands. Our examples show that the reaction barrier in β-eliminations is controlled by the s-character of the participating bonds where a higher s-character gives a better overlap in the multi-center transition state thereby increasing the reactivity; still β-aryl eliminations can compete with the classical β-hydrogen eliminations in certain cases.     

Rotational isomeric-state approximation for the unperturbed dimensions of a POLA polyester

Rotational isomeric-state theory has been applied to investigate chain configurations of a polyester prepared from 4′,5-(1,1,3-trimethyl-3-phenylindan) dicarboxylic acid and 2,2-bis(4′-hydroxyphenyl) propane (POLA polyester). Independent conformations for each repeat monomer unit of the chain have been assumed in the calculations of the unperturbed dimensions. Rotations about the oxygen-phenylene-carbon (O? ?? C) bonds are considered to be free with twofold symmetric potentials. The trans and cis conformations of the carbonyl-phenylene-carbon (O?C? ?? C) and the indan-carbonyl residues are assumed to have equal probability. Two rotational states, trans and cis, are assigned to the ester C? O bonds. Calculation of the reduced unperturbed dimensions (〈r₀²〉/M)_∞ with conformations thus assigned for the bonds in the repeat unit, and comparison with experiment (0.72 ± 0.02 Ų/g) indicate that the conformation in the ester C? O bonds is predominantly trans. An equation for the conformational potential as a function of rotational angle about the ester C? O bond has been formulated using data on potential barriers for low molecular weight compounds. This equation, yielding a potential difference between the cis the trans isomers of 2.5–3.0 kcal/mole, is in good agreement with the prediction made from the calculation of the unperturbed dimensions where a cis/trans ratio of 0.01 for the ester C? O bonds was obtained.     

The assignment of diastereotopic menthyl groups by two-dimensional NMR

The ¹³C and ¹H NMR spectra of (–)-bis[1R, 3 R, 4S]menthylphosphine (1) are assigned by two-dimensional double quantum NMR and ¹³C? ¹H shift correlation diagrams. The variable temperature spectra of 1 indicate hindered rotation about the P? C bonds.     

Isomorphous crystals of strychninium 4‐chloro­benzoate and strychninium 4‐nitro­benzoate

In strychninium 4‐chloro­benzoate, C₂₁H₂₃N₂O₂⁺·C₇H₄ClO₂⁻, (I), and strychninium 4‐nitro­benzoate, C₂₁H₂₃N₂O₂⁺·C₇H₄NO₄⁻, (II), the strychninium cations form pillars stabilized by C—H⋯O and C—H⋯π hydrogen bonds. Channels between the pillars are occupied by anions linked to one another by C—H⋯π hydrogen bonds. The cations and anions are linked by ionic N—H⁺⋯O⁻ and C—H⋯X hydrogen bonds, where X = O, π and Cl in (I), and O and π in (II).     

Direct sp3 C?H Amination of Nitrogen‐Containing Benzoheterocycles Mediated by Visible‐Light‐Photoredox Catalysts

Visible‐light‐mediated direct sp³ C? H amination of benzocyclic amines via α‐aminoalkyl radicals by using photoredox catalysts is described here. The obtained N,N‐acetals were also successfully applied for carbon–carbon bond forming reactions with carbon nucleophiles. The procedure is suitable for a late‐stage modification of C? H bonds to C? C bonds.     

Versatile Biocatalytic C(sp3)−H Oxyfunctionalization for the Site- Selective and Stereodivergent Synthesis of α- and β-Hydroxy Acids

C(sp³)−H oxyfunctionalization, the insertion of an O-atom into C(sp³)−H bonds, streamlines the synthesis of complex molecules from easily accessible precursors and represents one of the most challenging tasks in organic chemistry with regard to site and stereoselectivity. Biocatalytic C(sp³)−H oxyfunctionalization has the potential to overcome limitations inherent to small-molecule-mediated approaches by delivering catalyst-controlled selectivity. Through enzyme repurposing and activity profiling of natural variants, we have developed a subfamily of α-ketoglutarate-dependent iron dioxygenases that catalyze the site- and stereodivergent oxyfunctionalization of secondary and tertiary C(sp³)−H bonds, providing concise synthetic routes towards four types of 92 α- and β-hydroxy acids with high efficiency and selectivity. This method provides a biocatalytic approach for the production of valuable but synthetically challenging chiral hydroxy acid building blocks.     

New insight into the electronic structure of iron(IV)‐oxo porphyrin compound I. A quantum chemical topological analysis

The electronic structure of iron‐oxo porphyrin π‐cation radical complex Por^·+Fe^IV?O (S? H) has been studied for doublet and quartet electronic states by means of two methods of the quantum chemical topology analysis: electron localization function (ELF) η(r) and electron density ρ(r). The formation of this complex leads to essential perturbation of the topological structure of the carbon–carbon bonds in porphyrin moiety. The double C?C bonds in the pyrrole anion subunits, represented by pair of bonding disynaptic basins V_i=1,2(C,C) in isolated porphyrin, are replaced by single attractor V(C,C)_i=1–20 after complexation with the Fe cation. The iron–nitrogen bonds are covalent dative bonds, N→Fe, described by the disynaptic bonding basins V(Fe,N)_i=1–4, where electron density is almost formed by the lone pairs of the N atoms. The nature of the iron–oxygen bond predicted by the ELF topological analysis, shows a main contribution of the electrostatic interaction, Fe^δ+···O^δ?, as long as no attractors between the C(Fe) and C(O) core basins were found, although there are common surfaces between the iron and oxygen basines and coupling between iron and oxygen lone pairs, that could be interpreted as a charge‐shift bond. The Fe? S bond, characterized by the disynaptic bonding basin V(Fe,S), is partially a dative bond with the lone pair donated from sulfur atom. The change of electronic state from the doublet (M = 2) to quartet (M = 4) leads to reorganization of spin polarization, which is observed only for the porphyrin skeleton (?0.43e to 0.50e) and S? H bond (?0.55e to 0.52e). © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Not Carbon s–p Hybridization,but Coordination Number Determines C−H and C−C Bond Length

A fundamental and ubiquitous phenomenon in chemistry is the contraction of both C−H and C−C bonds as the carbon atoms involved vary, in s–p hybridization, along sp³ to sp² to sp. Our quantum chemical bonding analyses based on Kohn–Sham molecular orbital theory show that the generally accepted rationale behind this trend is incorrect. Inspection of the molecular orbitals and their corresponding orbital overlaps reveals that the above-mentioned shortening in C−H and C−C bonds is not determined by an increasing amount of s-character at the carbon atom in these bonds. Instead, we establish that this structural trend is caused by a diminishing steric (Pauli) repulsion between substituents around the pertinent carbon atom, as the coordination number decreases along sp³ to sp² to sp.     

The value of the π-bond order–bond length relationship in geometry prediction and chemical bonding interpretation

The π-bond order–bond length relationship is reintroduced to the literature and extended to heteronuclear bonds by presenting graphs derived solely by theoretical methods. π-bond order and overlap population results for carbon–carbon, carbon–nitrogen, and carbon–oxygen bonds obtained from ab initio STO -3G calculations using theoretically-optimized geometries are reported for a series of pteridines and for a wide range of small organic molecules. The order–length correlation graphs are used in predicting the “intrinsic” single bond lengths for sp² – sp² and sp – sp hybridized C? C, C? N, and C? O bonds, and in evaluating the relative importance of hybridization, π-electron delocalization and bond polarization effects in causing bond shortening in conjugated and hyperconjugated molecules. The calculated value of the π-bond order for a given bond in a molecule is shown to be relatively insensitive to moderate geometry changes: Hence, a use for the correlation graphs in geometry prediction is suggested. Some results for the extended 4-21G basis set are also presented.