Nucleophilic addition to C,C double bonds. III. Chemical reactivity of 1endo, 4endo: 5exo, 8exo-dimethano-1,2,3,4,4a,5,8,8a-octahydronaphthalen-10syn-ol and X-ray structure analysis of its p-nitrobenzoate

The title compound 1 is a further example of an olefinic alcohol that undergoes ether formation under basic conditions (→ 3) although the double bond is not activated by an electron-attracting group. This unusual reactivity is due to steric compression, which is increased in the 10-methyl analogue 2. This forms the corresponding ether 7 at a much higher rate. - In a deuteriated medium, base-catalysed cyclization of 1 gives the exo-deuteriated ether 6 , corresponding to trans-addition. - An X-ray structure analysis of 4 , the p-nitrobenzoate of 1 , is presented.     

Nucleophilic addition to C,C?double bonds. Part IX. Kinetics and mechanism of the base-catalyzed intramolecular cyclization of olefinic alcohols

The base-catalyzed intramolecular cyclization of polycyclic olefinic alcohols of type a (10-endo-hydroxy-anti^9,10-tricyclo [4.2.1.1^2,5]dec-7-en-9-ones (type h ), anti^9,10-tricyclo[4.2.1.1^2,5] dec-3-en-9-endo-ols (type j ), and anti^10,11-tricyclo[4.3.1.1^2,5]undec-3-en-10-endo-ols (type 1 )) to the ethers d and f , resp., has been studied. A mechanism for the nucleophilic addition of the corresponding alkoxide anion b to the isolated C,C? double bond is discussed. It is proposed that b is formed (fast acid/base equilibrium) in the first step. For the subsequent reaction sequence, there are two well distinguishable pathways: (a) Compounds with an additional carbonyl group ( h ) cyclize via a homoenolate-like intermediate c , which is protonated stereoselectively on the exo-side by the hydroxylic solvent. (b) Compounds without a carbonyl group ( j and l ) cyclize 10²-10⁴ times slower, and the reaction proceeds via a carbanion-like transition state e . The proton transfer from the hydroxylic solvent is clearly coupled with the C,O? bond formation. Steric compression in the olefinic alcohols a influences the cyclization rate: (a) Alcohols with a smaller ring ( h , X = CH₂CH₂) cyclize 70–200 times faster than the ones with a larger ring ( 1 , X = CH₂CH₂CH₂). (b) Replacement of the H-atom at the carbinol C-atom by a CH₃ group enhances the rate of ether formation by a factor of 50–100. Due to through-bond interactions between the C,C-double bonds, olefinic alcohols with an additional endocyclic C,C-double bond ( h and j , X = CH?CH) cyclize 20–300 times faster than the corresponding monoolefinic ones ( h and j , X = CH₂CH₂).     

Multivariate Analysis of Coupled Operando EPR/XANES/EXAFS/UV–Vis/ATR-IR Spectroscopy: A New Dimension for Mechanistic Studies of Catalytic Gas-Liquid Phase Reactions

Operando EPR, XANES/EXAFS, UV-Vis and ATR-IR spectroscopic methods have been coupled for the first time in the same experimental setup for investigation of unclear mechanistic aspects of selective aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol by a Cu/TEMPO catalytic system (TEMPO=2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyloxyl). By multivariate curve resolution with alternating least-squares fitting (MCR-ALS) of simultaneously recorded XAS and UV-Vis data sets, it was found that an initially formed (bpy)(NMI)Cu^I- complex (bpy=2,2′-bipyridine, NMI=N-methylimidazole ) is converted to two different Cu^II species, a mononuclear (bpy)(NMI)(CH₃CN)Cu^II-OOH species detectable by EPR and ESI-MS, and an EPR-silent dinuclear (CH₃CN)(bpy)(NMI)Cu^II(μ-OH)₂ ⋅ Cu^II (bpy)(NMI) complex. The latter is cleaved in the further course of reaction into (bpy)(NMI)(HOO)Cu^II-TEMPO monomers that are also EPR-silent due to dipolar interaction with bound TEMPO. Both Cu monomers and the Cu dimer are catalytically active in the initial phase of the reaction, yet the dimer is definitely not a major active species nor a resting state since it is irreversibly cleaved in the course of the reaction while catalytic activity is maintained. Gradual formation of non-reducible Cu^II leads to slight deactivation at extended reaction times.     

Elastocapillary imbibition

When a wetting liquid invades a porous medium or a capillary tube, the penetration or imbibition speed is known to decrease as the square root of time. We examine the capillary filling of a gap between flexible sheets and demonstrate that the pressure-induced inward deflection of the sheets leads to a non-monotonic behavior of the speed of the invading meniscus until eventually the flow is blocked. A model based on lubrication theory is formulated as a non-linear free-boundary problem, which is solved numerically using finite-difference methods. Good agreement is obtained with our experiments. At early times the deformation of the sheets is insignificant, and the penetration speed is unaffected. At later times, as the penetration distance approaches the elastocapillary length, the deformation becomes appreciable and the flow accelerates. Shortly thereafter, the gap at the air-liquid interface goes to zero, and the flow necessarily stops. The length of the sheets above which imbibition will cause them to coalesce is determined and is found to be in good agreement with that predicted via scaling arguments. Biological applications of this transient wetting of flexible boundaries are discussed.     

Rhodium-catalyzed C-H activation and conjugate addition under mild conditions

An efficient rhodium(III)-catalyzed C-H activation and subsequent conjugate addition was achieved under mild conditions. The reaction utilized inert arenes to replace stoichiometric organometallic reagents and can tolerate various functional groups as well as air and water.     

Discriminative variable selection for clustering with the sparse Fisher-EM algorithm

The interest in variable selection for clustering has increased recently due to the growing need in clustering high-dimensional data. Variable selection allows in particular to ease both the clustering and the interpretation of the results. Existing approaches have demonstrated the importance of variable selection for clustering but turn out to be either very time consuming or not sparse enough in high-dimensional spaces. This work proposes to perform a selection of the discriminative variables by introducing sparsity in the loading matrix of the Fisher-EM algorithm. This clustering method has been recently proposed for the simultaneous visualization and clustering of high-dimensional data. It is based on a latent mixture model which fits the data into a low-dimensional discriminative subspace. Three different approaches are proposed in this work to introduce sparsity in the orientation matrix of the discriminative subspace through \(\ell _{1}\) -type penalizations. Experimental comparisons with existing approaches on simulated and real-world data sets demonstrate the interest of the proposed methodology. An application to the segmentation of hyperspectral images of the planet Mars is also presented.     

Pd‐Catalyzed Carbonylative α‐Arylation of Aryl Bromides: Scope and Mechanistic Studies

Reaction conditions for the three‐component synthesis of aryl 1,3‐diketones are reported applying the palladium‐catalyzed carbonylative α‐arylation of ketones with aryl bromides. The optimal conditions were found by using a catalytic system derived from [Pd(dba)₂] (dba=dibenzylideneacetone) as the palladium source and 1,3‐bis(diphenylphosphino)propane (DPPP) as the bidentate ligand. These transformations were run in the two‐chamber reactor, COware, applying only 1.5 equivalents of carbon monoxide generated from the CO‐releasing compound, 9‐methylfluorene‐9‐carbonyl chloride (COgen). The methodology proved adaptable to a wide variety of aryl and heteroaryl bromides leading to a diverse range of aryl 1,3‐diketones. A mechanistic investigation of this transformation relying on ³¹P and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy was undertaken to determine the possible catalytic pathway. Our results revealed that the combination of [Pd(dba)₂] and DPPP was only reactive towards 4‐bromoanisole in the presence of the sodium enolate of propiophenone suggesting that a [Pd(dppp)(enolate)] anion was initially generated before the oxidative‐addition step. Subsequent CO insertion into an [Pd(Ar)(dppp)(enolate)] species provided the 1,3‐diketone. These results indicate that a catalytic cycle, different from the classical carbonylation mechanism proposed by Heck, is operating. To investigate the effect of the dba ligand, the Pd⁰ precursor, [Pd(η³‐1‐PhC₃H₄)(η⁵‐C₅H₅)], was examined. In the presence of DPPP, and in contrast to [Pd(dba)₂], its oxidative addition with 4‐bromoanisole occurred smoothly providing the [PdBr(Ar)(dppp)] complex. After treatment with CO, the acyl complex [Pd(CO)Br(Ar)(dppp)] was generated, however, its treatment with the sodium enolate led exclusively to the acylated enol in high yield. Nevertheless, the carbonylative α‐arylation of 4‐bromoanisole with either catalytic or stoichiometric [Pd(η³‐1‐PhC₃H₄)(η⁵‐C₅H₅)] over a short reaction time, led to the 1,3‐diketone product. Because none of the acylated enol was detected, this implied that a similar mechanistic pathway is operating as that observed for the same transformation with [Pd(dba)₂] as the Pd source.     

Hydrophosphonylation of alkenes or nitriles by double radical transfer mediated by titanocene/propylene oxide

Hydrophosphonylation reactions have emerged as efficient processes for the functionalization of alkenes or alkynes. Synthesis of alkylphosphonates was achieved by an original double radical transfer mediated by titanocene and propylene oxide. By the same way, nitriles which are considered as inert functions in radical process lead to aminobisphosphonates.     

Utilisation of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for determination of alkylphenols in various environmental matrices. Comparison with LC-MS/MS method

Among the wide range of substances discharged continuously in the environment, alkylphenols became a major focus of environmental research in the last decades, as it was found that they possess endocrine disrupting properties. Knowledge about the occurrence and levels of alkylphenols in environment is critical for the risk assessment of these compounds on both ecosystem and human health. However, the analysis of traces of alkylphenols in environmental matrices is a very difficult task, and the suitable methods involve generally an extraction followed by an extensive sample clean-up before detection, steps often time-consuming and costly.In order to reduce the analysis time, obtain a high throughput of analysis and thus improve work efficiency, the objective of the present study is to investigate the use of immunochemical technique (ELISA) for the determination of nonylphenol and octylphenol in soils and various kinds of water. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the determination of alkylphenols in soil using immunoassay technique is described. A methodology is developed, based on the combination of a single preparation step and the use of a simply ELISA kit. The performances of the method are compared with LC-MS/MS, considered as reference. The developed procedure offers the sensitivity and selectivity necessary for the detection of the target alkylphenols in the ng/g or ng/L range, and is successfully applied to the analysis of several samples. Results indicate that alkylphenols are quantified with concentrations in the same order than LC-MS/MS, meaning that ELISA may be useful not only in screening the samples and get a positive/negative response, but also it allows a good approximation of the concentrations.