Copper‐Catalyzed Radical/Radical CH/PH Cross‐Coupling: α‐Phosphorylation of Aryl Ketone O‐Acetyloximes

The selective radical/radical cross‐coupling of two different organic radicals is a great challenge due to the inherent activity of radicals. In this paper, a copper‐catalyzed radical/radical C? H/P? H cross‐coupling has been developed. It provides a radical/radical cross‐coupling in a selective manner. This work offers a simple way toward β‐ketophosphonates by oxidative coupling of aryl ketone o‐acetyloximes with phosphine oxides using CuCl as catalyst and PCy₃ as ligand in dioxane under N₂ atmosphere at 130 °C for 5 h, and yields ranging from 47 % to 86 %. The preliminary mechanistic studies by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) showed that, 1) the reduction of ketone o‐acetyloximes generates iminium radicals, which could isomerize to α‐sp³‐carbon radical species; 2) phosphorus radicals were generated from the oxidation of phosphine oxides. Various aryl ketone o‐acetyloximes and phosphine oxides were suitable for this transformation.     

Practical Synthesis of anti‐β‐Hydroxy‐α‐Amino Acids by PdII‐Catalyzed Sequential C(sp3)H Functionalization

An improved and practical procedure for the stereoselective synthesis of anti‐β‐hydroxy‐α‐amino acids (anti‐βhAAs), by palladium‐catalyzed sequential C(sp³)?H functionalization directed by 8‐aminoquinoline auxiliary, is described. followed by a previously established monoarylation and/or alkylation of the β‐methyl C(sp³)?H of alanine derivative, β‐acetoxylation of both alkylic and benzylic methylene C(sp³)?H bonds affords various anti‐β‐hydroxy‐α‐amino acid derivatives. As an example, the synthesis of β‐mercapto‐α‐amino acids, which are highly important to the extension of native chemical ligation chemistry beyond cysteine, is described. The synthetic potential of this protocol is further demonstrated by the synthesis of diverse β‐branched α‐amino acids. The observed diastereoselectivities are strongly influenced by electronic effects of aromatic AAs and steric effects of the linear side‐chain AAs, which could be explained by the competition of intramolecular C?OAc bond reductive elimination from Pd^IV intermediates vs. intermolecular attack by an external nucleophile (AcO^?) in an S_N2‐type process.     

Sulfinate‐Salt‐Mediated Radical Relay Cyclization of Cyclic Ethers with 2‐Alkynylbenzonitriles toward 3‐Alkylated 1‐Indenones

A new sulfinate salt‐mediated radical relay for the completion of C(sp³)?H bond indenylation of cyclic ethers with readily available 2‐alkynylbenzonitriles by combining silver/tert‐butyl peroxide (TBHP) was established, providing a wide range of 3‐alkylated 1‐indenones with generally good yields. Interestingly, the current reaction system can tolerate an S‐centered radical and a C‐centered radical in one pot, in which the S‐centered radical promotes the formation of the C‐centered radical to induce a radical cascade without disturbing the reaction process. A reaction mechanism is also proposed based on control experiments.     

A Designed Three‐Stranded β‐Sheet in an α/β Hybrid Peptide

The incorporation of β‐amino acid residues into the antiparallel β‐strand segments of a multi‐stranded β‐sheet peptide is demonstrated for a 19‐residue peptide, Boc‐LV^βFV^DPGL^βFVVL^DPGLVL^βFVV‐OMe (BBH19). Two centrally positioned ^DPro–Gly segments facilitate formation of a stable three‐stranded β‐sheet, in which β‐phenylalanine (^βPhe) residues occur at facing positions 3, 8 and 17. Structure determination in methanol solution is accomplished by using NMR‐derived restraints obtained from NOEs, temperature dependence of amide NH chemical shifts, rates of H/D exchange of amide protons and vicinal coupling constants. The data are consistent with a conformationally well‐defined three‐stranded β‐sheet structure in solution. Cross‐strand interactions between ^βPhe3/^βPhe17 and ^βPhe3/Val15 residues define orientations of these side‐chains. The observation of close contact distances between the side‐chains on the N‐ and C‐terminal strands of the three‐stranded β‐sheet provides strong support for the designed structure. Evidence is presented for multiple side‐chain conformations from an analysis of NOE data. An unusual observation of the disappearance of the Gly NH resonances upon prolonged storage in methanol is rationalised on the basis of a slow aggregation step, resulting in stacking of three‐stranded β‐sheet structures, which in turn influences the conformational interconversion between type I′ and type II′ β‐turns at the two ^DPro–Gly segments. Experimental evidence for these processes is presented. The decapeptide fragment Boc‐LV^βFV^DPGL^βFVV‐OMe (BBH10), which has been previously characterized as a type I′ β‐turn nucleated hairpin, is shown to favour a type II′ β‐turn conformation in solution, supporting the occurrence of conformational interconversion at the turn segments in these hairpin and sheet structures.     

Dimethylzinc‐Initiated Radical Coupling of β‐Bromostyrenes with Ethers and Amines

A new coupling reaction has been developed in which β‐bromostyrenes react with ethers and tertiary amines to introduce the styryl group in the α‐position. The transformation is mediated by Me₂Zn/O₂ with 10 % MnCl₂ and is believed to proceed by a radical addition–elimination mechanism. The ether and the amine are employed as solvent and the coupling takes place through the most stable α radical for unsymmetrical substrates. The products are obtained in moderate to good yields as the pure E isomers. The coupling can be achieved with a range of smaller cyclic and acyclic ethers/amines as well as various substituted β‐bromostyrenes.     

A rare occurrence of a β‐turn in an amyloid βA4 peptide

The fragment β(25–35) of the amyloid β‐peptide, like its parent βA4, has shown neurotrophic and late neurotoxic activities in cultured cells. The 3D structure of this important peptide was examined by ¹H and ¹³C 2D‐NMR and MD simulations in DMSO‐d₆ and water. The NMR parameters of chemical shift, ³J(N,Hα) coupling constants, temperature coefficients of NH chemical shifts and the pattern of intra and inter‐residue NOEs were used to deduce the structures. In DMSO‐d₆, the peptide was found to take up a type I β‐turn around the C‐terminal residues Ile⁸–Gly⁹–Leu¹⁰–Met¹¹, whereas in water at pH 5.5, it adopts a random coil conformation. This is only the second report of a β‐turn in the β‐amyloid class of peptides. The solution structures generated using restrained molecular dynamics were refined by MARDIGRAS to an R factor of 0.33 in the case of DMSO‐d₆ and to 0.56 for water. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Site‐Selective Approach to β‐Fluorination: Photocatalyzed Ring Opening of Cyclopropanols

To expand upon the recent pioneering reports of catalyzed sp³ C?H fluorination methods, the next rational step is to focus on directing “radical‐based fluorination” more effectively. One potential solution entails selective C?C bond activation as a prelude to selective fluorination. Herein, we report the tandem photocatalyzed ring‐opening/fluorination reactions of cyclopropanols by 1,2,4,5‐tetracyanobenzene (TCB) and Selectfluor to afford a process tantamount to site‐selective β‐fluorination of carbonyl‐containing compounds. This new approach provides a synthetically mild and operationally simple route to otherwise difficult‐to‐prepare β‐fluorinated products in good yields and with good‐to‐excellent regioselectivity. Remarkably, substrates that contain other usually reactive (e.g., benzylic) sites undergo ring‐opening fluorination preferably. The versatility of this method to give cyclic β‐fluorides from tertiary cyclopropanols and γ‐fluoro alcohols is also highlighted.     

Iridium(III)‐Catalyzed Regioselective Intermolecular Unactivated Secondary Csp3−H Bond Amidation

For the first time, a highly regioselective intermolecular sulfonylamidation unactivated secondary Csp³?H bond has been achieved using Ir^III catalysts. The introduced N,N’‐bichelating ligand plays a crucial role in enabling iridium–nitrene insertion into a secondary Csp³?H bond via an outer‐sphere pathway. Mechanistic studies and density functional theory (DFT) calculations demonstrated that a two‐electron concerted nitrene insertion was involved in this Csp³?H amidation process. This method tolerates a broad range of linear and branched‐chain N‐alkylamides, and provides efficient access to diverse γ‐sulfonamido‐substituted aliphatic amines.     

Redox Non‐Innocence and Isomer‐Specific Oxidative Functionalization of Ruthenium‐Coordinated β‐Ketoiminate

This article deals with isomeric ruthenium complexes [Ru^III(L^R)₂(acac)] (S=1/2) involving unsymmetric β‐ketoiminates (AcNac) (L^R=R‐AcNac, R=H ( 1 ), Cl ( 2 ), OMe ( 3 ); acac=acetylacetonate) [R=para‐substituents (H, Cl, OMe) of N‐bearing aryl group]. The isomeric identities of the complexes, cct (cis‐cis‐trans, blue, a ), ctc (cis‐trans‐cis, green, b ) and ccc (cis‐cis‐cis_, pink, c ) with respect to oxygen (acac), oxygen (L) and nitrogen (L) donors, respectively, were authenticated by their single‐crystal X‐ray structures and spectroscopic/electrochemical features. One‐electron reversible oxidation and reduction processes of 1 – 3 led to the electronic formulations of [Ru^III(L)(L ^? )(acac)]⁺ and [Ru^II(L)₂(acac)]^? for 1 ⁺‐ 3 ⁺ (S=1) and 1^? – 3^? (S=0), respectively. The triplet state of 1 ⁺‐ 3 ⁺ was corroborated by its forbidden weak half‐field signal near g≈4.0 at 4 K, revealing the non‐innocent feature of L. Interestingly, among the three isomeric forms ( a – c in 1 – 3 ), the ctc ( b in 2 b or 3 b ) isomer selectively underwent oxidative functionalization at the central β‐carbon (C?H→C=O) of one of the L ligands in air, leading to the formation of diamagnetic [Ru^II(L)(L ′ )(acac)] (L ′ =diketoimine) in 4 / 4′ . Mechanistic aspects of the oxygenation process of AcNac in 2 b were also explored via kinetic and theoretical studies.     

Gas‐phase fragmentation of γ‐lactone derivatives by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

Fragmentation reactions of β‐hydroxymethyl‐, β‐acetoxymethyl‐ and β‐benzyloxymethyl‐butenolides and the corresponding γ‐butyrolactones were investigated by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS/MS) using collision‐induced dissociation (CID). This study revealed that loss of H₂O [M + H ?18]⁺ is the main fragmentation process for β‐hydroxymethylbutenolide (1) and β‐hydroxymethyl‐γ‐butyrolactone (2). Loss of ketene ([M + H ?42]⁺) is the major fragmentation process for protonated β‐acetoxymethyl‐γ‐butyrolactone (4), but not for β‐acetoxymethylbutenolide (3). The benzyl cation (m/z 91) is the major ion in the ESI‐MS/MS spectra of β‐benzyloxymethylbutenolide (5) and β‐benzyloxymethyl‐γ‐butyrolactone (6). The different side chain at the β‐position and the double bond presence afforded some product ions that can be important for the structural identification of each compound. The energetic aspects involved in the protonation and gas‐phase fragmentation processes were interpreted on the basis of thermochemical data obtained by computational quantum chemistry. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Radical Cation Salt‐initiated Aerobic C−H Phosphorylation of N‐Benzylanilines: Synthesis of α‐Aminophosphonates

A radical cation salt‐initiated phosphorylation of N‐benzylanilines was realized through an aerobic oxidation of the sp³ C?H bond, providing a series of α‐aminophosphonates in high yields. An investigation of the reaction scope revealed that this mild catalyst system is superior in good functional group tolerance and high reaction efficiency. The mechanistic study implied that the cleavage of the sp³ C?H bond was involved in the rate‐determining step.     

Development of an Amperometric Biosensor for β‐N‐Oxalyl‐L‐α,β‐Diaminopropionic Acid (β‐ODAP)

An amperometric method for the determination of the neurotoxic amino acid β‐N‐oxalyl‐L ‐α,β‐diaminopropionic acid (β‐ODAP) using a screen printed carbon electrode (SPCE) is reported. The electrode material was bulk‐modified with manganese dioxide and used as a detector in flow injection analysis (FIA). The enzyme glutamate oxidase (GlOx) was immobilized in a Nafion‐film on the electrode surface. The performance of the biosensor was optimized using glutamate as an analyte. Optimum parameters were found as: operational potential 440 mV (vs. Ag/AgCl), flow rate 0.2 mL min^?1, and carrier composition 0.1 mol L^?1 phosphate buffer (pH 7.75). The same conditions were used for the determination of β‐ODAP. The signal was linear within the concentration range 53–855 μmol L^?1 glutamate and 195–1950 μmol L^?1 β‐ODAP. Detection limits (as 3σ value) for both analytes were 9.12 and 111.0 μmol L^?1, respectively, with corresponding relative standard deviations of 3.3 and 4.5%. The biosensor retained more than 73% of its activity after 40 days of on‐line use.     

Highly Stereoselective β‐Mannopyranosylation via the 1‐α‐Glycosyloxy‐isochromenylium‐4‐gold(I) Intermediates

While the gold(I)‐catalyzed glycosylation reaction with 4,6‐O‐benzylidene tethered mannosyl ortho‐alkynylbenzoates as donors falls squarely into the category of the Crich‐type β‐selective mannosylation when Ph₃PAuOTf is used as the catalyst, in that the mannosyl α‐triflates are invoked, replacement of the ^?OTf in the gold(I) complex with less nucleophilic counter anions (i.e., ^?NTf₂, ^?SbF₆, ^?BF₄, and ^?BAr₄^F) leads to complete loss of β‐selectivity with the mannosyl ortho‐alkynylbenzoate β‐donors. Nevertheless, with the α‐donors, the mannosylation reactions under the catalysis of Ph₃PAuBAr₄^F (BAr₄^F=tetrakis[3,5‐bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]borate) are especially highly β‐selective and accommodate a broad scope of substrates; these include glycosylation with mannosyl donors installed with a bulky TBS group at O3, donors bearing 4,6‐di‐O‐benzoyl groups, and acceptors known as sterically unmatched or hindered. For the ortho‐alkynylbenzoate β‐donors, an anomerization and glycosylation sequence can also ensure the highly β‐selective mannosylation. The 1‐α‐mannosyloxy‐isochromenylium‐4‐gold(I) complex ( Cα ), readily generated upon activation of the α‐mannosyl ortho‐alkynylbenzoate ( 1 α ) with Ph₃PAuBAr₄^F at ?35 °C, was well characterized by NMR spectroscopy; the occurrence of this species accounts for the high β‐selectivity in the present mannosylation.     

Polyrotaxanes based on polyethers and β‐cyclodextrin

A polyrotaxane in which β‐cyclodextrins (β‐CDs) are threaded onto a polyether chain was prepared by polycondensation of a β‐CD/bisphenol A (BPA) inclusion complex with aromatic dihalides. Two dihalides, with and without a side chain, were used. This polycondensation results in a polyrotaxane (or pseudopolyrotaxane for polymers without stoppers) with a 1:1 threading ratio when the side chain is present and 2:3 when there is none. The long side chain prevents dethreading of the macrocycles. The best yield and a good threading ratio were obtained when the polycondensation was performed by liquid?solid phase transfer catalysis without solvent (L/S PTC) using 2,5‐bi(iodomethyl)‐4‐methoxy‐(1‐octyloxy)benzene as dihalide. The ¹H NMR and FTIR spectra show that the products consist of β‐CD and polyether. The 2D NOESY NMR spectrum shows that the polyether chains are included in the β‐CD cavity. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 4391–4399, 2009     

Establishing effective simulation protocols for β‐ and α/β‐peptides. III. Molecular mechanical model for acyclic β‐amino acids

All‐atom molecular mechanics (MM) force field parameters are developed for the backbone of acyclic β‐amino acid using an improved version of the multiobjective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA). The MM model is benchmarked using β³‐homo‐Alanine (β³‐hAla) diamide in water with SCC‐DFTB/MM simulations as the reference. Satisfactory agreements are found between the MM and SCC‐DFTB/MM results regarding the distribution of key dihedral angles for the β³‐hAla diamide in water. The MM model is further applied to a β‐hepta‐peptide in methanol solution. The calculated NOE values and ³J coupling constants averaged over different trajectories are consistent with experimental data. By contrast, simulations using parameters directly transferred from the CHARMM22 force field for proteins lead to much worse agreement, which highlights the importance of careful parameterization for non‐natural peptides, for which the improved MOEA is particularly useful. Finally, as an initial application of the new force field parameters, the behaviors of a short random copolymer consisting of β amino acids in bulk solution and membrane/water interface are studied using a generalized Born implicit solvent model (GBSW). Results for four selected sequences show that segregation of hydrophobic and cationic groups occur easily at the membrane/solution interface for all sequences. The sequence that features alternating short blocks exhibits signs of lower stability at the interface compared to other sequences. These results confirm the hypothesis in recent experimental studies that β‐amino‐acid based random copolymers can develop a high degree of amphiphilicity without regular three‐dimensional structure. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010     

Photolysis of α,β‐Epoxyketones: A Green Synthesis of β‐Hydroxyenones through Tandem H‐Abstraction,Ring Cleavage and Isomerisation

The photochemical behavior of various substituted epoxycarbonyl compounds consisting of more than one possible photo‐labile site (i.e. δ‐hydrogen, β‐hydrogen and epoxide ring) has been investigated. These compounds on photo‐irradiation produced the β‐hydroxyenones in an eco‐friendly green approach. Mechanistically, these photo‐transformations have been envisaged to occur via an intramolecular β‐hydrogen abstraction by the carbonyl group of benzoyl moiety to generate the 1,3‐biradical followed by epoxide ring opening that isomerizes into the photoproducts. The photolysis of the probed epoxy ketones didn’t furnish any photoproduct through δ‐hydrogen abstraction, whatsoever. This exclusive preference for β‐H abstraction over δ‐H abstraction by carbonyl group has been vindicated by the MM2 energy mini‐ mized program for the investigated photochemical substrates. The structures of these photoproducts were established from the analysis of their spectral parameters (IR, ¹H/¹³C NMR and Mass) and single crystal X‐ray crystallography data.     

Palladium‐Catalyzed [3+3] Annulation between Diarylamines and α,β‐Unsaturated Acids through CH Activation: Direct Access to 4‐Substituted 2‐Quinolinones

A C?H activation strategy has been successfully employed for the high‐yielding synthesis of a diverse array of 4‐substituted 2‐quinolinone species by a palladium‐catalyzed dehydrogenative coupling involving diarylamines. This intermolecular annulation approach incorporates readily available α,β‐unsaturated carboxylic acids as the coupling partner by suppressing the facile decarboxylation. Based on preliminary mechanistic studies, a reaction sequence is proposed, involving ortho palladation, π‐coordination, β‐migratory insertion, and β‐hydride elimination.     

Asymmetric cyclopolymerization of N‐tert‐butyl‐N‐allylacrylamide in the presence of β‐cyclodextrin

The radical polymerization of N‐tert‐butyl‐N‐allylacrylamide (t‐BAA) was carried out in a dimethyl sulfoxide/H₂O mixture in the presence of β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD). The polymerization proceeded with the complete cyclization of the t‐BAA unit and yielded optically active poly(t‐BAA). The IR spectrum of the obtained polymer showed that the cyclic structure in the polymer was a five‐membered ring. The optical activity of poly(t‐BAA) increased with an increasing molar ratio of β‐CD to the t‐BAA monomer. The interaction of β‐CD with t‐BAA was confirmed by ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR analyses of the polymerization system. It is suggested that interaction of the t‐BAA monomer with the hydrophobic cavity of β‐CD plays an important role in the asymmetric cyclopolymerization of t‐BAA. The radical copolymerization of t‐BAA with styrene (St), methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, or benzyl methacrylate (BMA) also produced optically active copolymers with a cyclic structure from the t‐BAA unit. St and BMA carrying a phenyl group were predicted to compete with t‐BAA for interaction with β‐CD in the copolymerization system. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 2098–2105, 2000     

Phosphoryl group differentiating α‐amino acids from β‐ and γ‐amino acids in prebiotic peptide formation

In recent years β‐amino acids have increased their importance enormously in defining secondary structures of β‐peptides. Interest in β‐amino acids raises the question: Why and how did nature choose α‐amino acids for the central role in life? In this article we present experimental results of MS and ³¹P NMR methods on the chemical behavior of N‐phosphorylated α‐alanine, β‐alanine, and γ‐amino butyric acid in different solvents. N‐Phosphoryl α‐alanine can self‐assemble to N‐phosphopeptides either in water or in organic solvents, while no assembly was observed for β‐ or γ‐amino acids. An intramolecular carboxylic–phosphoric mixed anhydride (IMCPA) is the key structure responsible for their chemical behaviors. Relative energies and solvent effects of three isomers of IMCPA derived from α‐alanine (2a–c), with five‐membered ring, and five isomers of IMCPA derived from β‐alanine (4a–e), with six‐membered ring, were calculated with density functional theory at the B3LYP/6‐31G** level. The lower relative energy (3.2 kcal/mol in water) of 2b and lower energy barrier for its formation (16.7 kcal/mol in water) are responsible for the peptide formation from N‐phosphoryl α‐alanine. Both experimental and theoretical studies indicate that the structural difference among α‐, β‐, and γ‐amino acids can be recognized by formation of IMCPA after N‐phosphorylation. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem 94: 232–241, 2003     

Differentiation of α‐COOH from β‐COOH in aspartic acids by N‐phosphorylation

The biomimic reactions of N‐phosphoryl amino acids, which involved intramolecular penta‐coordinate phosphoric‐carboxylic mixed anhydrides, are very important in the study of many biochemical processes. The reactivity difference between the α‐COOH group and β‐COOH in phosphoryl amino acids was studied by experiments and theoretical calculations. It was found that the α‐COOH group, and not β‐COOH, was involved in the ester exchange on phosphorus in experiment. From MNDO calculations, the energy of the penta‐coordinate phosphoric intermediate containing five‐member ring from α‐COOH was 35 kJ/mol lower than that of the six‐member one from β‐COOH. This result was in agreement with that predicted by HF/6‐31G** and B3LYP/6‐31G** calculations. Theoretical three‐dimensional potential energy surface for the intermediates predicted that the transition states 4 and 5 involving α‐COOH or β‐COOH group had energy barriers of ΔE=175.8 kJ?mol^?1 and 210.4 kJ?mol^?1, respectively. So the α‐COOH could be differentiated from β‐COOH intramolecularly in aspartic acids by N‐phosphorylation. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 83: 41–51, 2001