The indole side chain of tryptophan as a versatile pi-donor

Single-armed, 15- and 18-membered lariat ether receptor systems having indolylethyl side arms bind Na+ and K+ in the ring. The indole residue serves as a pi-donor to the ring-bound cation. Whether the five- or six-membered ring interacts most directly with Na+ or K+ depends on whether the sidearm is attached to indole's 3- or 5-position. This suggests that structural as well as electronic factors are important in pi-complexation of alkali metal cations.     

两相催化体系中α，β－不饱和醛选择加氢反应研究Ⅲ．表面活性剂、溶剂对选择加氢反应的影响

研究了水溶性钌－膦配合物催化肉桂醛选择加氢反应中，相转移剂和表面活性剂对反应转化率和选择性的影响，考察了表面活性剂ＣＴＡＢ（十六烷基三甲溴化铵）浓度以及影响两相界面性质的因素—水相和有机相体积比、有机溶剂的改变等的影响．结果表明，相转移剂可以促进反应进行，其中以季铵盐相转移剂最好；表面活性剂能够显著地加快反应，其中以阳离子表面活性剂的效果最佳，且分子中含有长链烷基者（如ＣＴＡＢ）效果更好，非离子和阴离子表面活性剂的效果较差；对于ＣＴＡＢ，其浓度的增加导致反应速度的明显加快，但ＣＴＡＢ浓度达到１．６５×１０－２ｍｏｌ／Ｌ之后，反应体系乳化严重，反应完成后，两相分离变得困难．而增加水相体积和加入适当的有机溶剂，有利于转化率和选择性的提高．     

Application of Et3NHCl-AlCl3 Ionic Liquid as an Initiator in Cationic Copolymerization of 1, 3-Pentadiene with Styrene

Room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) as advanced, technological solvents can be designed to fit a particular application. They used as green “media and/or catalysts” for chemical synthesis have been extensively reviewed recently. RTILs1 not only show …     

Asymmetric Intramolecular Hydroalkoxylation of Unactivated Alkenes Catalyzed by Chiral N‐Triflyl Phosphoramide and TiCl4†

By using a combination of a chiral N‐triflyl phosphoramide and TiCl₄ as the catalyst, a new process for asymmetric intramolecular hydroalkoxylation of unactivated alkenes was developed, producing various chiral tetrahydrofuran derivatives in 51%—99% yields with 30%—71% ee's.     

Organic Reactions in Ionic Liquids： An Efficient Method for the Synthesis of Phenacyl Esters by Reaction of Carboxylic Acids with α-Bromoacetophenone Promoted by Potassium Fluoride

An efficient method is reported for the synthesis of phenacyl esters by reaction of carboxylic acids with a-bromoacetophenone promoted by potassium fluoride in ionic liquid [Bmim]PF6, the yield of the reaction is almost quantitative and the products are essentially pure.     

Enzymatic reaction of the immobilized enzyme on porous silicon studied by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry

Desorption/ionization on silicon mass spectrometry (DIOS-MS) is a matrix-free technique that allows for the direct desorption/ionization of low-molecular-weight compounds with little or no fragmentation of analytes. This technique has a relatively high tolerance for contaminants commonly found in biological samples. DIOS-MS has been applied to determine the activity of immobilized enzymes on the porous silicon surface. Enzyme activities were also monitored with the addition of a competitive inhibitor in the substrate solution. It is demonstrated that this method can be applied to the screening of enzyme inhibitors. Furthermore, a method for peptide mapping analysis by in situ digestion of proteins on the porous silicon surface modified by trypsin, combined with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-MS has been developed.     

Quinine/selectfluor combination induced asymmetric semipinacol rearrangement of allylic alcohols: an effective and enantioselective approach to alpha-quaternary beta-fluoro aldehydes

A quinine/Selectfluor combination inducing rearrangement reaction of allylic alcohols was discovered, which involved a moderate yield with good enantioselective construction of alpha-quaternary carbon center and beta-fluoro aldehyde under base condition.     

Fluorescence study of the sol-gel process in hybrid precursors: evidence of concentration fluctuations at the local scale

Hybrid sol-gel materials have been prepared by hydrolytic polycondensation of an alkoxysilane. The sol-gel process of methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MAPTMS) has been followed by fluorescence spectroscopy with 2-naphthol as a probe. The experimental results showed that this photoprobe was dramatically sensitive to the microenvironment polarity. Spectroscopic studies revealed fluctuations of the maximum emission intensity and wavelength as a function of time. These fluctuations were attributed to the amphiphilic behavior of the hydrolyzed precursor. The maximum emission wavelength of the probe corresponding to its protonated form was higher than in pure water. All the results suggest that the presence of water molecules, tightly bonded to the polar head of the silanols, increased locally the sol polarity and induced a red-shifted emission. Fluorescence spectroscopy emphasized the reversibility of monomeric silanol aggregates and the changes in hydroxy group number of the silica network during the sol maturation. The behavior of this system upon shaking confirmed this statement.     

Reduced Overlap Population Analysis for Triosmium Clusters

The use of reduced overlap population (ROP) analysis from EHMO calculations as a means to gauge the presence of metal–metal bonds in triosmium clusters is examined. A number of triosmium clusters containing bridging ligands have been used as test cases, including the bis-ethoxy bridged cluster Os₃(μ-OEt)₂(CO)₁₀, 1b, and some of its group 15 derivatives Os₃(μ-OEt)₂(CO)₉(EPh₃), 2. These latter clusters are newly synthesized and have been characterized completely, including by single-crystal X-ray crystallographic studies. In honour of Professor Dieter Fenske on his 65th birthday.     

Stereocontrolled synthesis of bicyclic lactone derivatives via tungsten-mediated [3 + 2] cycloaddition of epoxides with a tethered alkynyl group

In the presence of BF3*Et2O, alkynyltungsten complexes underwent [3 + 2] cycloaddition with tethered epoxides to give bicyclic -lactones efficiently. Only one diastereomeric product was formed despite the presence of three stereogenic centers. A mechanism is proposed that involves formation of a tungsten-vinylidenium species via an SN2 attack of the epoxide carbon by an alkynyltungsten group to give a tungsten-enol ether species via counterattack at the central tungsten-vinylidenium carbon by the OBF3- terminus. Most of the tungsten enol ether species were too unstable for isolation and underwent hydrolysis to give only cis-fused -bicyclic lactones. This cyclization works for both cis- and trans-epoxides and tolerates various functional groups. In the case of trans-phenyl epoxide, the reaction led to an addition product via a 6-endo attack of epoxide by the tungsten fragment. This method provides a simple enantiospecific synthesis of complex bicyclic lactones if a chiral epoxide is used in the cyclization. It is also applicable to the one-pot synthesis of bicyclic unsaturated gamma-lactones if a suitable alkynyltungsten functionality is used.