Development of a Novel Approach to Formation of a Pyrrole Ring: Synthesis of 2,3,5-Substituted 1-[2-(Vinyloxy)ethyl]pyrroles

Reaction of 2-(vinyloxy)ethylisothiocyanate with unsaturated carbanions generated in situ from propargyl ethers and amines when treated with superbases, after S-alkylation and cyclization of the adducts in the presence of CuBr, leads to the previously unknown 2,3,5-substituted 1-[2-(vinyloxy)ethyl]pyrroles.     

A One‐Pot Synthesis of N‐Aryl‐2‐Oxazolidinones and Cyclic Urethanes by the Lewis Base Catalyzed Fixation of Carbon Dioxide into Anilines and Bromoalkanes

The multicomponent assembly of pharmaceutically relevant N‐aryl‐oxazolidinones through the direct insertion of carbon dioxide into readily available anilines and dibromoalkanes is described. The addition of catalytic amounts of an organosuperbase such as Barton's base enables this transformation to proceed with high yields and exquisite substrate functional‐group tolerance under ambient CO₂ pressure and mild temperature. This report also provides the first proof‐of‐principle for the single‐operation synthesis of elusive seven‐membered ring cyclic urethanes.     

Pyridinylidenaminophosphines: Facile Access to Highly Electron-Rich Phosphines

Electron-rich tertiary phosphines are valuable species in chemical synthesis. However, their broad application as ligands in catalysis and reagents in stoichiometric reactions is often limited by their costly synthesis. Herein, we report the synthesis and properties of a series of phosphines with 1-alkylpyridin-4-ylidenamino and 1-alkylpyridin-2-ylidenamino substituents that are accessible in a very short and scalable route starting from commercially available aminopyridines and chlorophosphines. The determination of the Tolman electronic parameter (TEP) value reveals that the electron donor ability can be tuned by the substituent pattern at the aminopyridine backbone and it can exceed that of common alkylphosphines and N-heterocyclic carbenes. The potential of the new phosphines as strong nucleophiles in phosphine-mediated transformations is demonstrated by the formation of Lewis base adducts with CO₂ and CS₂. In addition, the coordination chemistry of the new phosphines towards Cu^I, Au^I, and Pd^II metal centers has been explored, and a convenient procedure to introduce the most basic phosphine into metal complexes starting from air-stable phosphonium salt is described.     

Basicity Limits of Neutral Organic Superbases

The potential limits of superbasicity achievable with different families of neutral bases by expanding the molecular framework are explored using DFT computations. A number of different core structures of non‐ionic organosuperbases are considered (such as phosphazenes, guanidinophosphazenes, guanidino phosphorus ylides). A simple model for describing the dependence of basicity on the extent of the molecular framework is proposed, validated, and used for quantitatively predicting the ultimate basicities of different compound families and the rates of substituent effect saturation. Some of the considered bases (guanidino phosphorus carbenes) are expected to reach gas‐phase basicity around 370 kcal mol^?1, thus being the most basic neutral bases ever reported. Also, the classical substituted alkylphosphazenes were predicted to reach pK_a values of around 50 in acetonitrile, which is significantly higher than previously expected.     

Superbase‐catalyzed domino 3H‐pyrroles synthesis from ketoximes and acetylene: DFT study vs experiment

Elimination of vinyl alcohol from 5‐vinyloxypyrrolines in the presence of superbases (final step of domino 3H‐pyrroles synthesis from ketoximes and acetylene) is studied computationally at different levels of theory in DMSO solution (PCM). The sequences of transformations starting from nucleophilic addition of hydroxide ion to carbon‐carbon or carbon‐nitrogen double bonds are proposed as possible mechanisms. Unusual reactivity of 2,5‐dimethylphenyl substituted 5‐vinyloxypyrroline is explained within these mechanisms.     

Computational estimates of thermochemistry and pKa values of cyclopropenyl imine superbases

The thermochemical properties of superbase species derived from cyclopropeneimine are estimated by computations on systems of isodesmic reactions. Proton affinities, gas phase basicities, and pK_a values are well represented by computations incorporating G4 and CBS‐QB3 schemes augmented for large systems by DFT calculations with functionals M06‐2X and ωB97DX in the cc‐pVTZ Dunning basis. Our calculations show that relative base strengths in gas are enhanced by alkyl substitution, either by methyl groups or larger species. For acetonitrile solution, alkyl substitution seems to weaken the base. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Chemoselective vinylation of aminophenols with acetylene catalyzed by sodium aminophenolates in aqueous DMSO

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Superbase-promoted multi-molecular acetylene/arylamine self-organization to 1-arylpyrroles

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