Abnormal Nucleophilic Substitution on Methoxytropone Derivatives: Steric Strategy to Synthesize 5-Substituted Azulenes

Azulene is a non-alternant non-benzenoid aromatic system, and in turn, it possesses unusual photophysical properties. Azulene-based conjugated systems have received increasing interest in recent years as optoelectronic materials. Despite the routes available for the preparation of substituted azulene derivatives, there remain few methods that allow regioselective substitution on the seven-membered ring of azulenes due to the subtle reactivity difference among the various positions. This report explores the reactivity of substituted tropolones as the azulene precursors and also provides a new method to create 5-substituted azulenes. The reaction of cyanoacetate enolate with unsubstituted 2-methoxytropone affords azulene through the attack of the nucleophile on the C-2 center (normal pathway). We have observed that 3-substituted 2-methoxytropones undergo steric-guided nucleophilic addition at the C-7 center (abnormal pathway) to afford 5-substituted azulene derivatives. Based on this observation and DFT calculation, a new synthetic strategy is devised for the regioselective synthesis of 5-substituted multifunctional azulenes, which cannot be accessed by any other method.     

A New Approach for the Synthesis of Miktoarm Star Polymers Through a Combination of Thiol–Epoxy “Click” Chemistry and ATRP/Ring‐Opening Polymerization Techniques

A new approach was developed for synthesis of certain A₃B₃‐type of double hydrophilic or amphiphilic miktoarm star polymers using a combination of “grafting onto” and “grafting from” methods. To achieve the synthesis of desired miktoarm star polymers, acetyl protected poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) thiols (M_n = 550 and 2000 g mol^?1) were utilized to generate A₃‐type of homoarm star polymers through an in situ protective group removal and a subsequent thiol–epoxy “click” reaction with a tris‐epoxide core viz. 1,1,1‐tris(4‐hydroxyphenyl)ethane triglycidyl ether. The secondary hydroxyl groups generated adjacent to the core upon the thiol–epoxy reaction were esterified with α‐bromoisobutyryl bromide to install atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) initiating sites. ATRP of N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) using the three‐arm star PEG polymer fitted with ATRP initiating sites adjacent to the core afforded A₃B₃‐type of double hydrophilic (PEG)₃[poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide)] (PNIPAM)₃ miktoarm star polymers. Furthermore, the generated hydroxyl groups were directly used as initiator for ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone to prepare A₃B₃‐type of amphiphilic (PEG)₃[poly(ε‐caprolactone)]₃ miktoarm star polymers. The double hydrophilic (PEG)₃(PNIPAM)₃ miktoarm star polymers showed lower critical solution temperature around 34 °C. The preliminary transmission electron microscopy analysis indicated formation of self‐assembly of (PEG)₃(PNIPAM)₃ miktoarm star polymer in aqueous solution. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 146–156     

Switching from linear to cyclic δ‐Polyvalerolactone synthesized via zeolitic imidazolate framework as a catalyst: A promising approach

A series of spray dried zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs = ZIF‐8, ZIF‐67, and Zn/Co‐ZIF) are used as a catalyst for the bulk ring‐opening polymerization of δ‐valerolactone without any co‐catalyst to generate polyvalerolactone. Interestingly, using the same catalyst under the same reaction conditions could manipulate the structure of the product polymer, and thus its physical properties. Thus, using a dried substrate leads to the formation of the cyclic polymer while a linear polymer was formed on using the commercially available substrate. An activated monomer mechanism has been suggested where the propagating zinc alkoxide undergoes an intramolecular transesterification to release cyclic or linear polyvalerolactone. The ROP of δ‐VL without drying shows that the polymeric zwitterions have little tendency to cyclize in the presence of moisture. At 140 °C, ZIF‐8 shows a superior catalytic activity resulting in the production of cyclic polyvalerolactone having a high molecular weight as compared to ZIF‐67 or Zn/Co‐ZIF due to the presence of highly active sites. The catalyst could be recycled and reused without any significant loss of catalytic activity.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Liquid-Crystalline Tetraoxapentacene Derivatives Exhibiting Aggregation-Induced Emission

A series of new tetrakis(dialkoxyphenyl) dicyanotetraoxapentacene derivatives ( 1 a – c ) were prepared by reaction of the appropriate terphenyl diols with tetrafluoroterephthalonitrile in good yields. Compounds 1 b and 1 c , which bear hexyloxy and decyloxy side chains, exhibited columnar hexagonal mesophases, as shown by polarized optical microscopy, variable-temperature powder X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction of methoxy-substituted 1 a revealed that the dicyanotetraoxapentacene core is highly planar, consistent with the notion that these molecules are able to stack in columnar mesophases. A detailed photophysical characterization showed that these compounds exhibit aggregation-induced emission in solution, emission in nonpolar solvents, weak emission in polar solvents, and strong emission in the solid state both as powder and in thin films. These observations are consistent with a weakly emissive charge-transfer state in polar solvents and a more highly emissive locally excited state in nonpolar solvents.     

Pentapnictogen heterocyclic monoanions: Structure,stability, and aromaticity

Inorganic planar ring-shape molecules with 4n + 2 π electrons are always the focus of experimental synthesis and theoretical research due to their potential aromaticity and stability. In this work, the whole series of five-membered heterocycle monoanions X _nY_5-n⁻ (X, Y = group 15 elements; n = 1-4) were thoroughly investigated by means of density functional theory calculations. They all have large formation energies and HOMO-LUMO gap energies, suggesting the potential thermodynamic and kinetic stability. Their aromaticities are comparable to that of typical aromatic hydrocarbons. Their thermal stabilities were firmly established by the ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. As most of them are predicted for the first time, their various spectra were simulated for experimental characterization. Furthermore, we demonstrate that these five-membered cyclic anions can be employed as η⁵-ligand to construct novel all-inorganic metallocenes, which may serve as the building blocks of low-dimensional nanomaterials.     

Lithium–Bromide Exchange versus Nucleophilic Addition of Schiff's base: Unprecedented Tandem Cyclisation Pathways

By exploring lithium–bromide exchange reactivity of aromatic Schiff's bases with tert-butyllithium (tBuLi), we have revealed unprecedented competitive intermolecular and intramolecular cascade annulation pathways, leading to valuable compounds, such as iso-indolinones and N-substituted anthracene derivatives. A series of reaction parameters were probed, including solvent, stoichiometry, sterics and organolithium reagent choice, in order to understand the influences that limit such ring-closing pathways. With two viable reactivity options for the organolithium on the imine; namely, nucleophilic addition or lithium–bromide exchange, a surprising competitive nature was observed, where nucleophilic addition dominated, even under cryogenic conditions. Considering the most commonly used solvents for lithium–bromide exchange, tetrahydrofuran (THF) and diethyl ether (Et₂O), contrasting reactivity outcomes were revealed with nucleophilic addition promoted in THF, while Et₂O yielded almost double the conversion of cyclic products than in THF.