Palladium-catalyzed asymmetric cyclization of methyl (E)-oxo-9-phenoxy-7-nonenoate and its analogs

Asymmetric cyclizations of methyl (E)-3-oxo-9-phenoxy-7-nonenoate ($\text{1}$) or methyl (E)-3-oxo-9-(methoxycarbonyl)oxy-7-nonenoate ($\text{4}$) without added base were carried out in the presence of a catalytic amount of palladium(II) acetate and chiral diphosphine as ligands. Allylic carbonate $\text{4}$ reacted by use of Pd(OAC)₂-(S)-(R)-BPPFA at room temperature to give (R)-3-vinylcyclohexanone ($\text{3}$), after decarboxylation, in up to 48% e. e.     

Heat capacity measurements of MnxFe3−xO4

Heat capacities of Mn_xFe_3?xO₄ with the composition x = 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 were measured from 200 to 740 K. λ-type heat capacity anomalies due to the ferri-paramagnetic transition were observed for all the compositions. The transition temperatures were 577, 471, and 385 K for the composition x = 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0, respectively, which are in good agreement with the results of magnetic measurements. The difference in heat capacities between the different samples was small except for the temperature range of the transition. The magnetic contribution to the observed heat capacity was obtained by assuming that the heat capacity can be expressed by the sum of the lattice heat capacity C_v (l), the dilation contribution C(d), and the magnetic contribution C(m). Entropy changes due to the transition were obtained from C(m) as 55.5, 50.7 and 49.2 J K^?1 mole^?1 for the composition x = 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0, respectively. The entropy changes were also calculated by assuming the randomization of unpaired electron spins on each ion, but they were from 6 to 10 J K^?1 mole^?1 smaller than the observed ones. The difference between the experimental and the calculated values is roughly explained by taking into account the cation exchange reaction between the tetrahedral and the octahedral sites in the spinel structure.     

m-Diethynylbenzene macrocycles: syntheses and self-association behavior in solution

m-Diethynylbenzene macrocycles (DBMs), buta-1,3-diyne-bridged [4(n)]metacyclophanes, have been synthesized and their self-association behaviors in solution were investigated. Cyclic tetramers, hexamers, and octamers of DBMs having exo-annular octyl, hexadecyl, and 3,6,9-trioxadecyl ester groups were prepared by intermolecular oxidative coupling of dimer units or intramolecular cyclization of the corresponding open-chain oligomers. The aggregation properties were investigated by two methods, the (1)H NMR spectra and the vapor pressure osmometry (VPO). Although some discrepancies were observed between the association constants obtained from the two methods, the qualitative view was consistent with each other. The analysis of self-aggregation by VPO revealed unique aggregation behavior of DBMs in acetone and toluene, which was not elucidated by the NMR method. Namely, the association constants for infinite association are several times larger than the dimerization constant, suggesting that the aggregation is enhanced by the formation of dimers (a nucleation mechanism). In polar solvents, DBMs aggregate more strongly than in chloroform due to the solvophobic interactions between the macrocyclic framework and the solvents. Moreover, DBMs self-associate in aromatic solvents such as toluene and o-xylene more readily than in chloroform. In particular, the hexameric DBM having a large macrocyclic cavity exhibits extremely large association constants in aromatic solvents. By comparing the aggregation properties of DBMs with the corresponding acyclic oligomers, the effect of the macrocyclic structure on the aggregation propensity was clarified. Finally, it turned out that DBMs tend to aggregate more readily than the corresponding phenylacetylene macrocycles, acetylene-bridged [2(n)]metacyclophanes, owing to the withdrawal of the electron density from the aromatic rings by the butadiyne linkages which facilitates pi-pi stacking interactions.     

Reaction of [α-(trimethylsilyl)benzyl]ferrocenes with α-ferrocenylbenzyl cations

Although methanolysis of [α-(trimethylsilyl)benzyl]ferrocene (I) and [p-methyl-α-(trimethylsilyl)benzyl]ferrocene (II) in the presence of anhydrous ferric chloride merely gave α-ferrocenylbenzyl methyl ether (III) and p-methyl-α-ferrocenylbenzyl methyl ether (IV), respectively, acid-catalyzed methanolysis of (I) and (II) in the presence of an equimolar amount of (III) or (IV) afforded 1,2-diferrocenyl-l,2-diarylethanes. It is suggested that one electron oxidation of [α-(trimethylsilyl)benzyl]ferrocene by α-ferrocenylbenzyl cation generated from α-ferrocenylbenzyl methyl ether, and subsequent methanolysis of the resulting substituted ferricenium ion may occur to give the two species of α-ferrocenylbenzyl radical, which in turn undergo an approximately statistical coupling.     

(2,7-Disubstituted-1,8-biphenylenedioxy)bis(dimethylaluminum) as bidentate organoaluminum Lewis acids: elucidation and synthetic Utility of the double electrophilic activation phenomenon

A series of (2,7-disubstituted-1,8-biphenylenedioxy)bis(dimethylaluminum) (2) has been readily prepared in situ by treatment of the requisite 2,7-disubstituted-1,8-biphenylenediol (1) with Me3Al (2 equiv) in CH2Cl2 at room temperature; this primarily relies on the successful establishment of a new synthetic procedure of 1 starting from inexpensive m-anisidine. Evaluation of 2 as a bidentate organoaluminum Lewis acid has been performed by the reduction of ketonic substrates using Bu3SnH as a hydride source in comparison to the conventional monodentate Lewis acid dimethylaluminum 2,6-xylenoxide (11), uncovering the significantly high activation ability of 2 toward carbonyl. Particularly, (2,7-dimethyl-1,8-biphenylenedioxy)bis(dimethylaluminum) (2a) exerted the highest reactivity, which has also been emphasized in the Mukaiyama aldol reaction. The structure of the bidentate Lewis acid 2 was unambiguously determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of 2g possessing a bulky 3,5-di-tert-butylphenyl substituent, revealing the rigid dimeric assembly in the solid state. The double electrophilic activation of carbonyl substrate by 2a has been supported by low-temperature 13C NMR analysis as well as theoretical study using the Gaussian 98 program. Moreover, unique stereoselectivity has been observed in the 2a-promoted Mukaiyama Michael addition, and highly chemoselective functionalization of carbonyl compounds in the presence of their acetal counterparts has been realized using 2a. Finally, the effectiveness of 2a for the activation of ether functionality has been demonstrated in the Claisen rearrangement of allyl vinyl ethers.     

Chiral recognition in NMR spectroscopy using crown ethers and their ytterbium(III) complexes

Chiral crown ethers 1 and 5 are useful enantiomeric discriminating agents in ¹H NMR spectroscopy for neutral and protonated primary amines, amino acids, and amino alcohols. The presence of the carboxylic acid groups in 1 and 5 provide sites at which ytterbium(III) can bind. Adding ytterbium(III) nitrate to crown–substrate mixtures in methanol-d₄ causes shifts in the spectra of substrates and often enhances the chiral discrimination in the ¹H NMR spectrum. The enhancement in enantiomeric discrimination that occurs in the presence of ytterbium(III) allows lower concentrations of the crown ether to be used in chiral recognition studies. Several amide derivatives of 1 were prepared and evaluated as chiral NMR discriminating agents, although except for 1e, these were less effective than 1.     

Reaction of 9-substituted 1-aminoadenine with hydrazine

Reaction of 9-substituted (methyl or benzyl) 1-aminoadenines 1 with hydrazine afforded 9-substituted 6-hydrazinopurines 2 and 1-substituted 5-ammo-4-(4-amino-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl)imidazole ( 4 ). The product ratio of 2 to 4 rose with increasing amounts of methanol used as the solvent. When the same reaction was carried out using 1,9-dimethyladenine instead of 1 , compounds 2 and 4 were also obtained with N⁶,9-dimethyladenine. A possible mechanism for formation of 2 and 4 is discussed.     

Multi-configuration electron-hole potential method for excited states

The recently proposed electron-hole potential (EHP) method for excited states is extended to the multi-configurational case. The variation equation is solved using the quadratic convergence method. The EHP methods are shown to be approximations to the complete singly excited configuration interaction (CSECI) in the variational sense. Extended Brillouin theorems are proved for the EHP methods. The excitation energies and wave functions obtained by one and two configurational EHP methods agree well with those of the CSECI method. The EHP methods have clear advantage in the computer time requirement over the CI method and are especially suited for a calculation of approximate excited states of large molecules. The EHP methods are applicable to excited states which belong to the same irreducible representation as the ground state.     

Computational study of the aminolysis of esters. The reaction of methylformate with ammonia

The aminolysis of esters is a basic organic reaction considered as a model for the interaction of carbonyl group with nucleophiles. In the present computational study the different possible mechanistic pathways of the reaction are reinvestigated by applying higher level electronic structure theory, examining the general base catalysis by the nucleophile, and a more comprehensive study the solvent effect. Both the ab initio QCISD/6-31(d,p) method and density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level were employed to calculate the reaction pathways for the simplest model aminolysis reaction between methylformate and ammonia. Solvent effects were assessed by the PCM method. The results show that in the case of noncatalyzed aminolysis the addition/elimination stepwise mechanism involving two transition states and the concerted mechanism have very similar activation energies. However, in the case of catalyzed aminolysis by a second ammonia molecule the stepwise mechanism has a distinctly lower activation energy. All transition states in the catalyzed aminolysis are 10-17 kcal/mol lower than those for the uncatalyzed process.     

Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley alkynylation of aldehydes: essential modification of aluminium alkoxides for rate acceleration and asymmetric synthesis

A novel carbonyl alkynylation has been accomplished based on utilization of the Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley (MPV) reaction system. The success of the MPV alkynylation crucially depends on the discovery of the remarkable ligand acceleration effect of 2,2'-biphenol. For example, the alkynylation of chloral (2c) with the aluminium alkoxide 6(R = Ph), prepared in situ from Me(3)Al, 2,2'-biphenol and 2-methyl-4-phenyl-3-butyn-2-ol (1a) as an alkynyl source, proceeded smoothly in CH(2)Cl(2) at room temperature to give the desired propargyl alcohol 3ca in almost quantitative yield after 5 h stirring. The characteristic feature of this new transformation involving no metal alkynides can be visualized by the fact that the alkynyl group bearing keto carbonyl was transferred successfully to aldehyde carbonyl without any side reactions on keto carbonyl. Although the use of (S)-1,1[prime or minute]-bi-2-naphthol and its simple analogues was found to be unsuitable for inducing asymmetry in this reaction, design of new chiral biphenols bearing a certain flexibility of the biphenyl axis led to satisfactory results in terms of enantioselectivity as well as reactivity.