Divergent Synthesis of Vinyl‐, Benzyl‐, and Borylsilanes: Aryl to Alkyl 1,5‐Palladium Migration/Coupling Sequences

Organosilicon compounds have been extensively utilized both in industry and academia. Studies on the syntheses of diverse organosilanes is highly appealing. Through‐space metal/hydrogen shifts allow functionalization of C?H bonds at a remote site, which are otherwise difficult to achieve. However, until now, an aryl to alkyl 1,5‐palladium migration process seems to have not been presented. Reported herein is the remote olefination, arylation, and borylation of a methyl group on silicon to access diverse vinyl‐, benzyl‐, and borylsilanes, constituting a unique C(sp³)?H transformation based on a 1,5‐palladium migration process.     

Asymmetric Organocatalytic Epoxidations: Reactions,Scope, Mechanisms,and Applications

Chiral epoxides serve as versatile building blocks in the synthesis of complex organic frameworks. The high strain imposed by the three‐membered ring system makes epoxides prone to a variety of nucleophilic ring‐opening reactions. Since the development of the Sharpless epoxidation, there have been many important contributions and advances in this area. With the rapid development of the field of asymmetric organocatalysis, a wide range of organocatalysts is now able to catalyze the epoxidation of broad class of unsaturated carbonyl compounds. In this Minireview, recent progress in the development of organocatalytic asymmetric epoxidation methods, the proposed mechanisms of these reactions and their applications as intermediates is reported.     

Synthesis of Peptides by Silver‐Promoted Coupling of Carboxylates and Thioamides: Mechanistic Insight from Computational Studies

The mechanism of the recently described N→C direction peptide synthesis through silver‐promoted coupling of N‐protected amino acids with thioacetylated amino esters was explored by using density functional theory. Calculation of the potential energy surfaces for various pathways revealed that the reaction proceeds through silver‐assisted addition of the carboxylate to the thioamide, which is followed by deprotonation and silver‐mediated extrusion of sulfur as Ag₂S. The resulting isoimide is the key intermediate, which subsequently rearranges to an imide through a concerted pericyclic [1,3]‐acyl shift (O–sp²N 1,3‐acyl migration). The proposed mechanism clearly emphasises the requirement of two equivalents of Ag^I and basic reaction conditions, which is in full agreement with the experimental findings. Alternative rearrangement pathways involving only one equivalent of Ag^I or through O–sp³N 1,3‐acyl migration can be excluded. The computations further revealed that peptide couplings involving thioformamides require significant conformational changes in the intermediate isoformimide, which slow down the rearrangement process.     

Interfacing Microbial Styrene Production with a Biocompatible Cyclopropanation Reaction

The introduction of new reactivity into living organisms is a major challenge in synthetic biology. Despite an increasing interest in both the development of small‐molecule catalysts that are compatible with aqueous media and the engineering of enzymes to perform new chemistry in vitro, the integration of non‐native reactivity into metabolic pathways for small‐molecule production has been underexplored. Herein we report a biocompatible iron(III) phthalocyanine catalyst capable of efficient olefin cyclopropanation in the presence of a living microorganism. By interfacing this catalyst with E. coli engineered to produce styrene, we synthesized non‐natural phenyl cyclopropanes directly from D ‐glucose in single‐vessel fermentations. This process is the first example of the combination of nonbiological carbene‐transfer reactivity with cellular metabolism for small‐molecule production.     

A Novel Allyl Transfer Coupled with a Grob Fragmentation

A novel acid‐promoted rearrangement is disclosed. In the previously unknown transformation, an allyl group migrated to an in situ formed carbocation stabilized by an electron‐rich aryl or heteroaryl group, resulting in a stereoselective intramolecular Grob fragmentation. The outcome of the rearrangement observed with an array of substrates can be satisfactorily rationalized using a working hypothesis with the aid of a six‐membered transition state similar to those proposed for the anionic oxy‐Cope or oxonia‐Cope rearrangements, but involving only one instead of two double bonds.     

Mitsunobu Reactions Catalytic in Phosphine and a Fully Catalytic System

The Mitsunobu reaction is renowned for its mild reaction conditions and broad substrate tolerance, but has limited utility in process chemistry and industrial applications due to poor atom economy and the generation of stoichiometric phosphine oxide and hydrazine by‐products that complicate purification. A catalytic Mitsunobu reaction using innocuous reagents to recycle these by‐products would overcome both of these shortcomings. Herein we report a protocol that is catalytic in phosphine (1‐phenylphospholane) employing phenylsilane to recycle the catalyst. Integration of this phosphine catalytic cycle with Taniguchi’s azocarboxylate catalytic system provided the first fully catalytic Mitsunobu reaction.     

Direct Difluoromethylation of Alcohols with an Electrophilic Difluoromethylated Sulfonium Ylide

A general method for the formation of alkyl difluoromethylethers under mild reaction conditions and with good functional‐group tolerance was developed. The development of the method was based on the invention of a stable, electrophilic, difluoromethylating reagent, difluoromethyl‐(4‐nitrophenyl)‐bis(carbomethoxy) methylide sulfonium ylide, which was synthesized by reaction of the easily available 4‐nitrophenyl (difluoromethyl)thioether and dimethyl diazomalonate in the presence of a rhodium catalyst.     

Ring Opening of Pymisyl‐Protected Aziridines with Organocuprates

The pyrimidine‐2‐sulfonyl (pymisyl) group is introduced as a new protecting group that can be used to activate aziridines towards ring opening. It is readily introduced and removed under mild conditions. Regioselective ring opening of pymisyl‐protected 2‐methyl‐aziridine with organocuprates gives the corresponding sulfonamides in high yields, and the pymisyl group can subsequently be removed upon treatment with a thiolate. The versatility of this new nitrogen protecting group is illustrated with a new synthesis of Selegiline, a monoamine oxidase‐B inhibitor marketed for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.     

Copper‐Catalyzed Enantioselective Allyl–Allyl Coupling between Allylic Boronates and Phosphates with a Phenol/N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Chiral Ligand

Copper‐catalyzed enantioselective allyl–allyl coupling between allylboronates and either Z‐acyclic or cyclic allylic phosphates using a new chiral N‐heterocyclic carbene ligand, bearing a phenolic hydroxy, is reported. This reaction occurs with exceptional S_N2′‐type regioselectivities and high enantioselectivities to deliver chiral 1,5‐diene derivatives with a tertiary stereogenic center at the allylic/homoallylic position.     

Rhodium‐Catalyzed Alkene Difunctionalization with Nitrenes

The Rh^II‐catalyzed oxyamination and diamination of alkenes generate 1,2‐amino alcohols and 1,2‐diamines, respectively, in good to excellent yields and with complete regiocontrol. In the case of diamination, the intramolecular reaction provides an efficient method for the preparation of pyrrolidines, and the intermolecular reaction produces vicinal amines with orthogonal protecting groups. These alkene difunctionalizations proceed by aziridination followed by nucleophilic ring opening induced by an Rh‐bound nitrene generated in situ, details of which were uncovered by both experimental and theoretical studies. In particular, DFT calculations show that the nitrogen atom of the putative [Rh]₂=NR metallanitrene intermediate is electrophilic and support an aziridine activation pathway by N ??? N=[Rh]₂ bond formation, in addition to the N ??? [Rh]₂=NR coordination mode.     

Redox-Neutral Nickel(II) Catalysis: Hydroarylation of Unactivated Alkenes with Arylboronic Acids

Reported here is the discovery of a redox-neutral Ni^II/Ni^II catalytic cycle which is capable of the linear-selective hydroarylation of unactivated alkenes with arylboronic acids for the first time. This novel catalytic cycle, enabled by the use of an electron-rich diimine ligand, features broad substrate scope, and excellent functional-group and heterocycle compatibility under mild reaction conditions in the absence of additional oxidants and reductants. Mechanistic investigations using kinetic analysis and deuterium-labelling experiments revealed the protonation to be the rate-determining step in this redox-neutral catalysis, and the reversible chain-walking nature of the newly developed diimine-Ni catalyst.     

Cross‐Coupling between Hydrazine and Aryl Halides with Hydroxide Base at Low Loadings of Palladium by Rate‐Determining Deprotonation of Bound Hydrazine

Reported here is the Pd‐catalyzed C–N coupling of hydrazine with (hetero)aryl chlorides and bromides to form aryl hydrazines with catalyst loadings as low as 100 ppm of Pd and KOH as base. Mechanistic studies revealed two catalyst resting states: an arylpalladium(II) hydroxide and arylpalladium(II) chloride. These compounds are present in two interconnected catalytic cycles and react with hydrazine and base or hydrazine alone to give the product. The selectivity of the hydroxide complex with hydrazine to form aryl over diaryl hydrazine was lower than that of the chloride complex, as well as the catalytic reaction. In contrast, the selectivity of the chloride complex closely matched that of the catalytic reaction, indicating that the aryl hydrazine is derived from this complex. Kinetic studies showed that the coupling process occurs by rate‐limiting deprotonation of a hydrazine‐bound arylpalladium(II) chloride complex to give an arylpalladium(II) hydrazido complex.     

An Unusual Ring‐Contraction/Rearrangement Sequence for Making Functionalized Di‐ and Triquinanes

A novel ring contraction/rearrangement sequence leading to functionalized 2,8‐oxymethano‐bridged di‐ and triquinane compounds is observed in the reaction of various substituted 1‐methyl‐4‐isopropenyl‐6‐oxabicylo[3.2.1]octan‐8‐ones with Lewis acids. The reaction is novel and is unprecedented for the synthesis of di‐ and triquinane frameworks.