Catalysis in competing isocyanate reactions. I. Effect of organotin–tertiary amine catalysts on phenyl isocyanate and N-butanol reaction

An analytical method based on high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been developed to investigate the competing isocyanate reactions under the influence of various catalysts. The kinetics of the model reaction between phenyl isocyanate and n-butanol was studied in acetonitrile at 50°C. Effects of various catalysts such as an organotin compound, dibutyltin dilaurate, and tertiary amines, 1,4-diazabicyclo-(2,2,2)octane,N,N′,N″-pentamethyldiprophylene triamine,N,N′N″-tris(3-dimethyl-aminopropyl)-3-hexahydrotriazine, and N,N,N′-trimethylaminoethyl-ethanolamine on the reaction rate and the formation of reaction products were investigated. The reactions were followed by determining the NCO disappearance using the standard di-n-butylamine back-titration method as well as measuring the formation of various reaction products using the HPLC method. The relative specificity of a catalyst in isocyanate reactions can thus be determined from the profile of the model reaction which depends upon the structure of the catalyst employed.     

povel isomers of hexasulfur: Prediction of a stable prism isomer and implications for the thermal reactivity of elemental sulfur

High-level ab initio molecular orbital calculations were employed to explore the potential energy hypersurface of hexasulfur, S(6). Twelve isomeric structures of S(6) have been identified: two unbranched rings (chair and boat), one trigonal prism of D(3h) symmetry, two singly branched rings (S(5)double bondS), three triplet chains, one singlet chain, and three doubly branched rings (Sdouble bondS(4)double bondS). The prism structure is essentially a cluster of three S(2) molecules connected via a six-center pi(*)-pi(*)-pi(*) interaction. It is by 51 kJ mol(-1) less stable than the lowest-energy chair form. The reactions to generate the boat, the prism, and the singly branched isomers from the chair form are predicted to have lower barriers than the ring opening reaction of cyclo-S(6), which requires an activation energy of 149 kJ mol(-1). The prism and singly branched isomers are found to be more reactive species than the chair form and they are potential sources of S(2) in chemical reactions involving elemental sulfur.     

Conformation inversion of an inositol derivative by use of silyl ethers: a modified route to 3,6-di-O-substituted-L-ido-tetrahydroxyazepane derivatives

The trans-diequatorial 3,4-diol of 2,5-di-O-benzyl-D-chiro-inositol cleaved selectively with the periodate ion in the presence of the trans-diaxial 1,6-diol to give a dialdehyde (dialdose) from which 3,6-di-O-benzyl-D-manno-tetrahydroxyazepane (1) was made. The trans-diaxial 1,6-diol of 3,4-di-O-allyl-2,5-di-O-benzyl-D-chiro-inositol was not cleaved satisfactorily by periodate, but replacement of the allyl substituents with tert-butyldimethylsilyl groups caused conformational inversion of the inositol ring, and the resulting trans-diequatorial 1,6-diol cleaved efficiently to give a dialdehyde from which 3,6-di-O-benzyl-L-ido-tetrahydroxyazepane (2) can be prepared.     

Carbon-rich organometallic materials derived from 4-ethynylphenylferrocene

Using 4-ethynylphenylferrocene (1) as the building block, a new series of rigid-rod alkynylferrocenyl precursors consisting of fluoren-9-one unit, 2-bromo-7-(4-ferrocenylphenylethynyl)fluoren-9-one (2a), 2,7-bis(4-ferrocenylphenylethynyl)fluoren-9-one (2b), 2-trimethylsilylethynyl-7-(4-ferrocenylphenylethynyl)fluoren-9-one (3) and 2-ethynyl-7-(4-ferrocenylphenylethynyl)fluoren-9-one (4) have been prepared in moderate to good yields. The acetylene complex 4 is a useful precursor for the synthesis of well-defined carbon-rich ferrocenyl heterometallic complexes, trans-[(η⁵-C₅H₅)Fe(η⁵-C₅H₄)C₆H₄CCRCCPt(PEt₃)₂Ph] (5), trans-[(η⁵-C₅H₅)Fe(η⁵-C₅H₄)C₆H₄CCRCCPt(PBu₃)₂CCRC≡CC₆H₄(η⁵-C₅H₄)Fe(η⁵-C₅H₅)] (6), trans-[(η⁵-C₅H₅)Fe(η⁵-C₅H₄)C₆H₄CCRCCM(dppm)₂Cl] (M=Ru (7), Os (8)) (R=fluoren-9-one-2,7-diyl). All new complexes have been characterized by FTIR, NMR and UV-Vis spectroscopies and fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FABMS). The molecular structures of 1, 2a, 4, 6 and 8 have been determined by single-crystal X-ray studies where an ironiron through-space distance of nanosized dimension (ca. 42 Å) is observed in the trimetallic molecular rod 6. The electronic absorption, luminescence and electrochemical properties of these carbon-rich molecules were investigated and the data were correlated with the theoretical results obtained by the method of density functional theory.     

Gas chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry applied for the determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in soil

A gas chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry (GC/ITMS) method was developed for the determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). ITMS parameters were optimized in order to achieve the best sensitivity for the PBDE analysis. Tandem mass spectrometry, along with an isotope dilution internal standard method, was used for the quantitation. Chromatographic windows were developed for mono- to hepta-BDEs, depending on the retention times when a 30-m GC column was used. A different 15-m column was used to analyze deca-BDE. Environmental soil samples collected from an electronic waste recycling site were prepared by using Soxhlet extraction and column chromatographic cleanup. Average recoveries of 61-118% were obtained for the 13C-labeled PBDE internal standards spiked in the samples prior to sample preparation. The accuracy represented by relative analytical errors was -24% to 18%, and the precision (relative standard deviation) was 11-26% (n=8). The method detection limits ranged from 0.013-0.25 ng/g for the PBDEs in soil.     

Synthetic studies of erythromycin derivatives: 6-O-methylation of (9S)-12,21-anhydro-9-dihydroerythromycin A derivatives

Synthetic studies on methylation of erythromycin derivatives were conducted. Methylation of 6 resulted in the formation of the C-3′ quaternary ammonium salts with a rate faster than 6-O-methylation. In dipolar aprotic solvent and under strong base conditions, 6-O-methylation, C-3′ quaternary ammonium salts formation and 2-C-methylation proceeded simultaneously to yield a mixture of three different products 7, 8 and 9. The quaternary ammonium salts were converted back to the corresponding tertiary amines 2, 10 and starting material 6 by employing sodium 4-pyridinethiolate as a N-demethylation reagent. The 6-O-methylation was eventually achieved in a good yield when a carbobenzyloxy (Cbz) group was utilized to protect the C-3′-dimethylamino group of 4. In this report, we will discuss the details of different reaction courses in the methylation of (9S)-12, 21-anhydro-9-dihydroerythromycin A derivatives.     

Synthesis of Surface-active Substituted 3H-Indole Quaternary Ammonium Molecules

Two substituted 3H-indole quaternary ammonium molecules were designed andsynthesized using hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPA) as a solvent. The products were purified and characterized by IR, ^1H NMR, MS and elemental analysis.     

A cyclodextrin-modified ketoester for stereoselective epoxidation of alkenes

A beta-cyclodextrin-modified ketoester 2 was prepared by covalent attachment of a reactive ketone moiety to beta-cyclodextrin. Treatment of 2 with Oxone as terminal oxidant would produce CD-substituted dioxirane, which can effect stereoselective alkene epoxidation. The 2-mediated (S)-alpha-terpineol epoxidations proceeded to give terpineol oxides in high yields, and the stereoselectivities (i.e., cis-/trans-epoxide ratio) decreased from 2.5:1 to 1:1.2 with increasing steric bulkiness of the terpenes. This steric-dependent stereoselectivity can be understood based on different binding geometries of the 2/terpene inclusion complexes according to the (1)H NMR titration and 2D ROESY experiments. Enantioselective epoxidation of styrenes has also been achieved with 2 as catalyst (20-50 mol %) in aqueous acetonitrile solution, and up to 40% ee was obtained in 4-chlorostyrene epoxidation at 0 degrees C. Similar enantioselectivities were also obtained for the 2-mediated epoxidation of 1,2-dihydronaphthalene (37% ee), 4-chlorostyrene (36% ee), and trans-stilbene (31% ee).