Intramolecular Dynamics of Tetranuclear Carbonyliridium Cluster Compounds. Part II. Disubstituted complexes with one chelating ligand. Crystal structure of [Ir4(CO)7(μ-CO)3(1,5-cyclooctadiene)]

The two complexes [Ir₄(CO)₁₀(diarsine)] (1) and [Ir₄(CO)₁₀(1,5-cyclooctadiene)] (2) bear a bidentate ligand chelating one metal atom of the basal face of the Ir₄ tetrahedron. However, they differ in fluxional behaviour as observed by 2D-exchange and variable-temperature ¹³C-NMR. The CO-site exchange with lowest activation energy proceeds via an unbridged intermediate in 2 , whereas that in 1 occurs via a concerted edge-bridging of CO's to an alternative face of the metal core. This difference is apparently related to different ground-state geometries: the basal CO's are symmetrically bridging in 2 , whereas two CO's are semi-bridging in 1 . The molecular structure of 2 was determined by single crystal X-ray diffractometry. The crystals are orthorhombic, space group Pbca, a = 11.651(4), b = 13.118(3), c = 28.64(1)Å. The idealized molecular symmetry is C_s. The diolefin chelates a basal Ir-atom replacing an axial and a radial CO group on the tetrahedral metal-atom framework.     

Oxazolinyloxiranyllithium-mediated stereoselective synthesis of alpha-epoxy-beta-amino acids

[reaction: see text] The stereoselective synthesis of novel alpha-epoxy-beta-amino acids is described by a route that combines the chemistry of oxazolinyloxiranyllithiums with that of nitrones. The intermediate trioxadiazadispiro[2.0.4.3]undecanes 4 have been isolated and converted by hydrolysis into epoxy-5-isoxazolidinones 5 which can be transformed into the alpha-epoxy-beta-amino acids 8 by N-O reduction.     

Synthesis of the two enantiomers of the sex pheromone of Diabrotica Undecimpunct at a Howardi and of chiral precursors of other pheromones starting from enantiomerically pure methyl hydrogen (R)-3-methylglutarate

Readily available methyl hydrogen (R)-3-methylglutarate(2) is a useful chiral building block for the synthesis of several biologically active compounds. Enantiomerically pure (R)-2 has been employed to synthesize stereospecifically each of the two enantiomers, 1a and 1b, of 10-methyl-2-tridecanone, the sex pheromone of the southern corn rootworm, Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber. Compound (R)-2 has been also used to prepare 99% optically pure (R)-3-methyl-1-pentanol (6) and enantiomerically pure (R)-5-methyl-i-tricosyne (7). These compounds are useful building blocks suitable for the further elaboration to other chiral insect pheromones.     

Bis(triphenylphosphine)4-fluorobenzaldehyde thiosemicarbazone copper(I): Forcing chelation through oxoanions

This paper reports the synthesis and characterization of six compounds of copper(I), stabilized in its reduced state by two triphenylphosphines, in which 4-fluorobenzaldehyde thiosemicarbazone and N-methylthiosemicarbazone act as chelating through their sulfur and imino nitrogen. The three oxoanions that have been chosen, NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻ and CH₃COO⁻, play an important role: their oxygens are bad competitors with the imino nitrogen of the thiosemicarbazone moiety and moreover they form strong charge assisted hydrogen bondings that stabilize the neutral form of the ligand. The overall packing is determined by intermolecular phenyl–phenyl van der Waals interactions.     

An efficient route to tetrahydronaphthols via addition of ortho-lithiated stilbene oxides to alpha,beta-unsaturated fischer carbene Complexes

[reaction: see text] A stereoselective/stereospecific synthesis of polysubstituted tetrahydronaphthols based on the Michael addition of ortho-lithiated stilbene oxides to alpha,beta-unsaturated Fischer carbene complexes followed by an unusual cyclization of the corresponding intermediate in a 6-endo-tet mode is described.     

Amide (A)–thioamide (T) interconversions using Ph3SiSH (A to T) and Ph3SnOH (T to A) reagents

Ph₃SiSH transforms amides to thioamides and Ph₃SnOH performs the reverse process, with the concomitant formation of Ph₃SiOH (or Ph₃SiOSiPh₃) and Ph₃SnSSnPh₃, respectively. The chemistry is a delightful illustration of the oxophilicity of silicon compared to the thiophilicity of tin and occurs under relatively mild conditions, and for amide to thioamide transformation requires no amide activation. The chemistry is in accord with available data for Si? (S)(O), Sn? (O)(S) and C?(O)(S) bond energies. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fluorine-Containing Drugs Approved by the FDA in 2018

Over the last two decades, fluorine substitution has become one of the essential structural traits in modern pharmaceuticals. Thus, about half of the most successful drugs (blockbuster drugs) contain fluorine atoms. In this review, we profile 17 fluorine-containing drugs approved by the food and drug administration (FDA) in 2018. The newly approved pharmaceuticals feature several types of aromatic F and CF₃, as well as aliphatic (CF₂) substitution, offering advances in the treatment of various diseases, including cancer, HIV, malarial and smallpox infections.     

Problems in polarized light microscopy observation of birefringence of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals

To reconsider the problems arising from the use of the phase plate as a test plate inserted into a polarized light microscope system for the analysis of triclinic calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (t-CPPD) crystals, or Ca₂P₂O₇·2H₂O in the synovial fluid of arthritis patients, we made the polarized light microscopy observations using a phase plate with a retardation of 530 nm for the synthesized t-CPPD crystals well-characterized by X-ray powder pattern indexing and single crystal X-ray diffraction measurements. The microscopy observations were made of crystals of different sizes, thicknesses and shapes. The retardation was assessed using the interference color chart at four extinction and diagonal positions both with and without the test plate. The addition and subtraction states produced by superimposing the retardations of two anisotropic materials, that is, the t-CPPD crystal and the 530 nm phase plate, were deduced from the interference color change by inserting the test plate at four diagonal positions. When the color change of a crystal at a diagonal position resulting from 90-degree rotation exhibits no clear birefringence, the interference color chart was shown to be useless. We suggested the use of a compensator whose retardation can be changed to obtain an accurate value for the retardation of the crystal.     

The Torsional Barriers of 2‐Hydroxy‐ and 2‐Fluorobiphenyl: Small but Measurable

By making use of a novel diastereotopicity probe, namely C(CF₃)₂OH, it has been possible to measure by very low temperature ¹⁹F NMR spectroscopy the elusive aryl–aryl rotation barriers of biphenyls bearing an OH or F group in one ortho position. The experimental values (5.4 and 4.4 kcal mol^?1, respectively) are matched by those from ab initio calculations (5.3 and 4.3 kcal mol^?1, respectively).     

Thermal Properties of Oligo(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) Containing Comb and Graft Copolymers and their Aqueous Solutions

Summary: The cationic ring opening polymerization of 2-ethyl-2-oxazoline (EtOx) was applied for the synthesis of methacrylate end-functionalized well-defined macromonomers that could be polymerized in a controlled manner using reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. The obtained comb polymers revealed lower critical solution temperature behavior in aqueous solution. The cloud points of these solutions could be tuned in a range from 35 °C to 85 °C by the incorporation of hydrophobic methyl methacrylate comonomer in varying amounts into the graft copolymers whereas copolymerization with methacrylic acid rendered temperature and pH sensitive copolymers. Thermo-gravimetric analysis showed a two-step decomposition of the graft copolymers and differential scanning calorimetry revealed glass transition temperatures that are significantly lowered in comparison to linear PEtOx.