Decarboxylative ipso Amination of Activated Benzoic Acids

In the presence of a bimetallic Pd/Cu system with 1,10‐phenanthroline as the ligand and either air or N‐methylmorpholine N‐oxide as the oxidant, electron‐deficient benzoic acids undergo oxidative decarboxylative coupling with unprotected amines. This operationally simple aniline synthesis is widely applicable with respect to the amine and gives good yields, even on multigram scale. The orthogonality of this reaction to other Pd‐catalyzed cross‐couplings allows the concise synthesis of multisubstituted arenes by sequential C?C, C?Cl, and C?N functionalizations. Mechanistic investigations suggest the intermediacy of a hypervalent Pd species.     

Diamondoid Nanostructures as sp3‐Carbon‐Based Gas Sensors

Diamondoids, sp³‐hybridized nanometer‐sized diamond‐like hydrocarbons (nanodiamonds), difunctionalized with hydroxy and primary phosphine oxide groups, enable the assembly of the first sp³‐C‐based chemical sensors by vapor deposition. Both pristine nanodiamonds and palladium nanolayered composites can be used to detect toxic NO₂ and NH₃ gases. This carbon‐based gas sensor technology allows reversible NO₂ detection down to 50 ppb and NH₃ detection at 25–100 ppm concentration with fast response and recovery processes at 100 °C. Reversible gas adsorption and detection is compatible with 50 % humidity conditions. Semiconducting p‐type sensing properties are achieved from devices based on primary phosphine–diamantanol, in which high specific area (ca. 140 m² g^?1) and channel nanoporosity derive from H‐bonding.     

Rhodium‐Catalyzed Parallel Kinetic Resolution of Racemic Internal Allenes Towards Enantiopure Allylic 1,3‐Diketones

A rare case of a parallel kinetic resolution of racemic 1,3‐disubstituted allenes by means of a rhodium‐catalyzed addition to 1,3‐diketones furnishing enantiopure allylic 1,3‐diketones is described. Mechanistic experiments demonstrate that the different allene enantiomers react in parallel to either the diastereomeric E‐ or Z‐allylic 1,3‐diketones with the same absolute configuration of the newly formed stereogenic center. A broad substrate scope demonstrates the synthetic utility of this new method.     

3D-Printed Phenacrylate Decarboxylase Flow Reactors for the Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of 4-Hydroxystilbene

Continuous flow systems for chemical synthesis are becoming a major focus in organic chemistry and there is a growing interest in the integration of biocatalysts due to their high regio- and stereoselectivity. Methods established for 3D bioprinting enable the fast and simple production of agarose-based modules for biocatalytic reactors if thermally stable enzymes are available. We report here on the characterization of four different cofactor-free phenacrylate decarboxylase enzymes suitable for the production of 4-vinylphenol and test their applicability for the encapsulation and direct 3D printing of disk-shaped agarose-based modules that can be used for compartmentalized flow microreactors. Using the most active and stable phenacrylate decarboxylase from Enterobacter spec. in a setup with four parallel reactors and a subsequent palladium(II) acetate-catalysed Heck reaction, 4-hydroxystilbene was synthesized from p-coumaric acid with a total yield of 14.7 % on a milligram scale. We believe that, due to the convenient direct immobilization of any thermostable enzyme and straightforward tuning of the reaction sequence by stacking of modules with different catalytic activities, this simple process will facilitate the establishment and use of cascade reactions and will therefore be of great advantage for many research approaches.     

Subcomponent Self-Assembly of a Cyclic Tetranuclear FeII Helicate in a Highly Diastereoselective Self-Sorting Manner

An enantiomerically pure diamine based on the 4,15-difunctionalized [2.2]paracyclophane scaffold and 2-formylpyridine self-assemble into an optically pure cyclic metallosupramolecular Fe₄L₆ helicate upon mixing with iron(II) ions in a diastereoselective subcomponent self-assembly process. The cyclic assembly results from steric strain that prevents the formation of a smaller linear dinuclear triple-stranded helicate, and hence, leads to the larger strain-free assembly that fulfils the maximum occupancy rule. Interestingly, use of the racemic diamine also leads to a racemic mixture of the homochiral cyclic helicates as the major product in a highly diastereoselective narcissistic chiral self-sorting manner given the fact that the assembly contains ten stereogenic elements, which can in principle give rise to 149 different diastereomers. The metallosupramolecular aggregates could be characterized by NMR, UV/Vis and CD spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and X-ray crystallography.     

N-Acenoacenes

The syntheses of new, fourfold alkynylated tetraazaacenoacenes (tetraazaanthracenoanthracene, tetraazatetracenotetracene and tetraazapentacenopentacene) are reported. This novel heteroacenoacene motif exhibits surprisingly strong electronic coupling between its constituting diazaacene units.     

DABCOnium: An Efficient and High‐Voltage Stable Singlet Oxygen Quencher for Metal–O2 Cells

Singlet oxygen (¹O₂) causes a major fraction of the parasitic chemistry during the cycling of non‐aqueous alkali metal‐O₂ batteries and also contributes to interfacial reactivity of transition‐metal oxide intercalation compounds. We introduce DABCOnium, the mono alkylated form of 1,4‐diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO), as an efficient ¹O₂ quencher with an unusually high oxidative stability of ca. 4.2 V vs. Li/Li⁺. Previous quenchers are strongly Lewis basic amines with too low oxidative stability. DABCOnium is an ionic liquid, non‐volatile, highly soluble in the electrolyte, stable against superoxide and peroxide, and compatible with lithium metal. The electrochemical stability covers the required range for metal–O₂ batteries and greatly reduces ¹O₂ related parasitic chemistry as demonstrated for the Li–O₂ cell.     

An Unusual Skeletal Rearrangement in the Biosynthesis of the Sesquiterpene Trichobrasilenol from Trichoderma

The skeletons of some classes of terpenoids are unusual in that they contain a larger number of Me groups (or their biosynthetic equivalents such as olefinic methylene groups, hydroxymethyl groups, aldehydes, or carboxylic acids and their derivatives) than provided by their oligoprenyl diphosphate precursor. This is sometimes the result of an oxidative ring‐opening reaction at a terpene‐cyclase‐derived molecule containing the regular number of Me group equivalents, as observed for picrotoxan sesquiterpenes. In this study a sesquiterpene cyclase from Trichoderma spp. is described that can convert farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) directly via a remarkable skeletal rearrangement into trichobrasilenol, a new brasilane sesquiterpene with one additional Me group equivalent compared to FPP. A mechanistic hypothesis for the formation of the brasilane skeleton is supported by extensive isotopic labelling studies.     

Screening of medicinal plants traditionally used in Peruvian Amazon for in vitro antioxidant and anticancer potential

Plants mentioned in this study have numerous records in traditional Peruvian medicine being used in treatment of cancer and other diseases likely to be associated with oxidative stress. Amongst the eight plant species tested, only Dysphania ambrosioides exhibited combinatory antioxidant and anti-proliferative effect on a broad spectrum of cancer cells (DPPH and ORAC values = 80.6 and 687.3 μg TE/mg extract, respectively; IC₅₀ against Caco-2, HT-29 and Hep-G2 = 129.2, 69.9 and 130.6, respectively). Alkaloids and phenolic compounds might significantly contribute to anticancer/antioxidant activity of this plant. The results justify the traditional medicinal use of this plant. Our findings further suggest that D. ambrosioides might serve as a prospective material for further development of novel plant-based antioxidant and/or anti-proliferative agents. Detailed analysis of chemical composition together with toxicology assessments and in vivo antioxidant/anti-proliferative activity of this plant should be carried out in order to verify its potential practical use.