Recent progress in the synthesis of sulfonyl fluorides for SuFEx click chemistry

Since the sulfur(VI) fluoride exchange reaction (SuFEx) was introduced by Sharpless and co-workers in 2014, this new-generation click chemistry has emerged as an efficient and reliable tool for creating modular intermolecular connections. Sulfonyl fluorides, one of the most important sulfur(VI) fluoride species, have attracted enormous attention in diverse fields, ranging from organic synthesis and material science, to chemical biology and drug discovery. This review aims to introduce seminal and recent progresses on the synthetic methods of sulfonyl fluorides, which include aromatic, aliphatic, alkenyl, and alkynyl sulfonyl fluorides. While not meant to be exhaustive, the purpose is to give a timely overview and insight in this field, and stimulate the development of more efficient synthetic methods of sulfonyl fluorides.     

Electrochemical Fluorination of Dithiocarbonates Using a Triarylamine Mediator

Electrochemical oxidation of O-(4-chlorobenzyl) S-methyl dithiocarbonate using tris(2,4-dibromophenyl)amine as a redox mediator was studied by cyclic voltammetric measurements. The triarylamine mediated anodic fluorodesulfurization of O-(4-chlorobenzyl) and O-(4-bromobenzyl) S-methyl dithiocarbonates provided 4-chloro- and 4-bromobenzyl fluorides, respectively in moderate yields. On the other hand, similar anodic fluorination of O-(2-phenethyl) S-octyl dithiocarbonate and O-(4-bromophenyl) S-methyl dithiocarbonate afforded 2-phenethyl trifluoromethyl ether and difluoro(methylthio)methyl 4-bromophenyl ether, respectively. Mechanistic aspects are also discussed.     

Artificial Caries Lesion Characteristics after Secondary Demineralization with Theobromine-Containing Protocol

Developing artificial caries lesions with varying characteristics is needed to adequately study caries process in vitro. The objective of this study was to investigate artificial caries lesion characteristics after secondary demineralization protocol containing theobromine and fluoride. Sixty bovine enamel slabs (4 × 3 mm) were demineralized using a Carbopol-containing protocol for 6 days. A baseline area (2 × 3 mm) was protected with acid-resistant nail varnish, after which specimens were exposed for 24 h to a secondary demineralization protocol containing acetic acid plus one of four fluoride/theobromine combinations (n = 15): theobromine (50 or 200 ppm) and fluoride (0 or 1 ppm). Specimens were sectioned and analyzed using transverse microradiography for changes in mineral content, lesion depth, and surface layer mineralization. Data was analyzed using paired t-test and analysis of variance followed by Bonferroni test at 0.05 significance level. After secondary demineralization, fluoride-containing groups had significantly deeper lesions (p = 0.002 and 0.014) compared to the group with 0 ppm fluoride and 50 ppm theobromine. Mineral content and lesion depth were significantly different compared to baseline for all groups. Theobromine did not show an added effect on mineral uptake. Theobromine-containing groups exhibited particularly deep lesions with a more uniform mineral profile in the presence of fluoride.     

自动快速燃烧－离子色谱测定铜精矿中的氟

建立了自动快速燃烧（AQF）－离子色谱联用测定铜精矿中氟的方法。将 AQF 的自动化特性和离子色谱的灵敏度高、准确性好的特点结合起来,能够实现操作过程的连续自动化。结果表明,线性范围内（1.0?50.0 μg )校准曲线相关系数 r >0. 999,氟的检出限为0.0004%。按照实验方法测定铜精矿样品中氟,结果的相对标准偏差（ RSD ,n =6)为2.14 % ?4.24 %。将实验方法用于铜精矿标准样品氟含量测定,测定值与认定值吻合较好;方法对照试验表明,实验方法对氟含量的测定值与国家标准 GB/T 3884. 12—2010的测定值基本一致。     

Unexpected Radical Telomerisation of Vinylidene Fluoride with 2-Mercaptoethanol

The radical telomerisation of vinylidene fluoride (VDF) with 2-mercaptoethanol as chain transfer agent (CTA) was studied to synthesise fluorinated telomers which bear a hydroxy end-group, such as H(VDF)_nS(CH₂)₂OH, under thermal (di-tert-butyl peroxide as the initiator) or photochemical initiations. A careful structural study of a typical H-VDF-S(CH₂)₂OH telomer was performed by ¹H and ¹⁹F NMR spectroscopy. These analytical methods allowed us to explore the selective addition of the thiyl radical onto the hydrogenated side of VDF, and the telomer containing one VDF unit was obtained selectively. Surprisingly, for higher [VDF]_o initial concentrations, a monoadduct telomer was produced as well as PVDF homopolymer. This feature was related to the fast consumption of the CTA. The kinetics of radical telomerisation led to a quite high transfer constant of the CTA (40 at 140 °C) that evidences the formation of a monoadduct as the only telomer formed.     

Phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride pretreatment stabilizes plasma lipidome in lipidomic and metabolomic analysis

Though it is standard practice to test the stability of analytes in the matrix for routine bioanalytical method, stability evaluation is always impractical and skipped in untargeted lipidomic and metabolomic analysis because analytes in these studies are enormous, diverse and sometimes unknown. Lipidome represents a major class of plasma metabolome and shows great potential to be diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. However, lipidome also faces stability problems because plasma contains kinds of lipid degradation enzyme. Here, using liquid chromatography time of flight mass spectrometry based lipidomic methodology, plasma levels of various lipids including triglyceride (TG), diglyceride (DG), free fatty acid (FFA), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) phosphatidylcholine (PC), lyso-phosphatidylcholine (LPC), lyso-phosphatidylethanolamine (LPE), and sphingomyelin (SM) were dynamically determined within 4 h at ambient temperature. In mouse and rat plasma, the levels of most TG, DG, PC and PE species significantly decreased with respect to time, whereas those of LPC, LPE and FFA significantly increased with respect to time. However, such changes did not occur in human plasma, thus indicating hepatic lipase and esterase might involve in the species-specified degradation of lipid classes in plasma. Phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) pretreatment prevented such lipidome instability in mouse plasma. The results suggested the instability of plasma lipidome should be highly concerned, and the enhancement of ex vivo stability of plasma lipidome could enable more reliable clinical translation of lipidomic data for biomarker discovery.     

Two Hexagonal Series of Lanthanoid(III) Oxide Fluoride Selenides: M6O2F8Se3 (M = La – Nd) and M2OF2Se (M = Nd,Sm, Gd – Ho)

Two hexagonal series of lanthanoid(III) oxide fluoride selenides with similar structure types can be obtained by the reaction of the components MF₃, M₂O₃, M, and Se in sealed niobium tubes at 850 °C using CsI as fluxing agent. The compounds with the lighter and larger representatives (M = La – Nd) occur with the formula M₆O₂F₈Se₃, whereas with the heavier and smaller ones (M = Nd, Sm, Gd – Ho) their composition is M₂OF₂Se. For both systems single‐crystal determinations were used in all cases. The compounds crystallize in the hexagonal crystal system (space group: P6₃/m) with lattice parameters of a = 1394–1331 pm and c = 403–372 pm (Z = 2 for M₆O₂F₈Se₃ and Z = 6 for M₂OF₂Se). The (M1)³⁺ cations show different square antiprismatic coordination spheres with or without an extra capping fluoride anion. All (M2)³⁺ cations exhibit a ninefold coordination environment shaped as tricapped trigonal prism. In both structure types the Se^2– anions are sixfold coordinated as trigonal prisms of M³⁺ cations, being first condensed by edges to generate trimeric units and then via faces to form strands running along [001]. The light anions reside either in threefold triangular or in fourfold tetrahedral cationic coordination. For charge compensation, both structures have to contain a certain amount of oxide besides fluoride anions. Since F^– and O^2– can not be distinguished by X‐ray diffraction, bond‐valence calculations were used to address the problem of their adjunction to the available crystallographic sites.     

Fluorine plasma treatment of bare and nitrilotris(methylene)triphosphonic acid (NP) protected aluminum: an XPS and ToF‐SIMS study

Nitrilotris(methylene)triphosphonic acid (NP) is a technologically important molecule that has been used for years as a corrosion inhibitor and/or adhesion promoter on aluminum and other metal surfaces. However, to the best of our knowledge, the detailed surface characterization of NP adsorbed on aluminum, or on any other surface, has not been reported. Herein, we report an X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF‐SIMS) analysis of a series of untreated and NP‐coated aluminum substrates that were exposed to the downstream products of a fluoroalkane + oxygen plasma for different amounts of time (from 0 to 20 s). As indicated by P 2p, N 1s, Al 2p, O 1s, and F 1s narrow scans, even a 4‐s plasma treatment significantly damages the NP protective layer and converts the native aluminum oxide into aluminum oxyfluoride. Heat treatment of the fluorine plasma‐treated samples in the air substantially converts the aluminum oxyfluoride back to aluminum oxide, while similar heating under vacuum results in little change to the materials. A slow loss of fluorine from the samples occurs over the course of weeks when they are stored in the air. A ToF‐SIMS analysis reveals sets of signals that are consistent with no surface treatment, NP treatment, or fluorine plasma treatment. A principal component analysis of the negative ion ToF‐SIMS spectra from the samples shows the expected differentiation of the samples. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Irradiation effects in CaF2 probed by Raman scattering

The formation conditions and dynamics of Ca colloids and point defects that appear in irradiated single crystals of CaF₂ were investigated by Raman spectroscopy. The intensity changes in the Raman spectra because of the presence of different concentrations of point defects and Ca colloids that emerged in CaF₂ after irradiation with 2.2 GeV Au ions were used to study their distribution and stability under illumination with three laser wavelengths (473, 532 and 633 nm) at different output powers (2 to 200 mW). A damage saturation at a fluence of 6 × 10¹¹ ion cm⁻² was observed. The dependence of the spectral changes on the ion fluence can be described by a core/halo damage cross‐section model. A radius of 13–18 nm was obtained for the outer (halo) cylinder, in agreement with previous swelling studies. Illuminations of irradiated samples with blue (473 nm) and green (532 nm) lasers were found to be extremely efficient in bleaching the samples, while illumination with a red (633 nm) laser did not lead to a sample recovery. This indicates that the bleaching process is governed by recombination of point defects that have to overcome an energy barrier. Typical time constants for the processes involved are presented. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.