Sterically congested in-methylcyclophanes

The crowded in-methylcyclophane 9 was prepared by condensation of 1,8,13-tris(bromomethyl)-9-methyltriptycene and 1,3,5-tris(mercaptomethyl)benzene under high dilution conditions. Oxidation of 9 gave the highly crystalline trisulfone 10, and its X-ray structure was determined. The in-methyl carbon atoms of the two independent molecules in the structure are only 2.90 and 2.87 A from the centroid of the basal aromatic ring, the closest such contacts ever observed. In addition, the C-CH3 bonds in these cyclophanes are compressed; the two independent bond distances are 1.475 and 1.495 A, significantly shorter than the ca. 1.54 A distances found in similar but uncongested molecules.     

Carbon-13 NMR of quinone methides

The ¹³C NMR spectra of four ortho- and seven para-quinone methides were assigned using chemical shift and long-range carbon-proton coupling information. The carbonyl shifts are compared with those in ortho- and para-benzoquinones. The chemical shifts of the carbonyls of the p-quinone methides are observed at δ 186.2–186.4 for the three ortho-di-tert-butyl-substituted compounds and at δ 180.7–181.5 for the four ortho-oxy-substituted compounds. In the three o-quinone methides with meta, para-dioxy substituents, the carbonyl signals are at δ 184.2–185.4. The carbonyl signal of the one o-quinone methide with no oxygen substitution is shifted downfield to δ 200.9, apparently as a result of hydrogen bonding to the nearby hydroxyl.     

Sterically congested macrobicycles with heteroatomic bridgehead functionality

A series of cyclophanes composed of two triarylelement caps linked by two-atom bridges has been synthesized. The bridgehead functional groups include phosphines in combination with amines, hydrosilanes, methylsilanes, and ethoxysilanes. Computational studies accurately predicted that when the bridgehead substituents are small (lone pairs or protons), an in_,in bridgehead stereochemistry is strongly favored, but larger bridgehead substituents favor the formations of in_,out stereoisomers. The X-ray structures, spectra, and reactivity of these compounds are discussed, as well as the resolution of one of the cyclophanes into pure enantiomers.     

The synthesis of quinone methides from p-quinol benzoates

A simple route to the quinone methides (1,RAr,R₁CO₂Me) is described.     

Binol quinone methides as bisalkylating and DNA cross-linking agents

The photogeneration and detection of new binol quinone methides undergoing mono- and bisalkylation of free nucleophiles was investigated by product distribution analysis and laser flash photolysis in water solution using binol quaternary ammonium derivatives 2 and 12 as photoactivated precursors. The alkylation processes of N and S nucleophiles are strongly competitive with the hydration reaction. DNA cross-linking potency of the water-soluble binol quaternary ammonium salt 2 was investigated as a pH function and compared to that of other quaternary ammonium salts capable of benzo-QM (QM = quinone methide) photogeneration by gel electrophoresis. DFT calculations in the gas phase and in water bulk on the binol and benzo quaternary ammonium salts 2 and 4 evidence structural and electrostatic features of the binol derivative which might offer a rationalization of its promising high photo-cross-linking efficiency.     

Photogeneration and chemistry of biphenyl quinone methides from hydroxybiphenyl methanols

The photosolvolysis of several biphenyl methanols (Ph-PhCH[Ph]OH) substituted with hydroxy or methoxy groups on the benzene ring not containing the -CH(Ph)OH moiety has been studied in aqueous solution. This work is a continuation of our studies of photosolvolysis of hydroxy-substituted arylmethanols that generate quinone methide intermediates, some of which are known to be relevant intermediates in toxicology and in biological and organic chemistry in general. In this study, we further probe the ability of the biphenyl ring system to transmit charge from the ring substituted with a potential electron-donating group (hydroxy and methoxy) to the adjacent benzene ring that contains a labile benzyl alcohol moiety. We show that in systems with a hydroxy substituent, biphenyl quinone methides (BQM) are the first formed intermediates that are detectable by nanosecond laser flash photolysis, and are responsible for the observed overall photosolvolysis reaction of these compounds. The highly conjugated BQM are found to absorb at long wavelengths (lambda(max) 580 and approximately 750 nm for the p,p' and o,p'-isomers, respectively) with relatively long lifetimes in neutral aqueous solution (500 and 30 micros, respectively). The BQM from the o,p'-isomer was found to undergo a competing intramolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylation, to give a fluorene derivative.     

Photogenerated quinone methides as useful intermediates in the synthesis of chiral BINOL ligands

The photoinduced synthesis of chiral 3,3'-CH2X-disubstituted BINOL ligands (X = NR2, SR, OH) has been achieved with excellent ee by UV-visible activation of BINOLAMs bearing L-proline ester arms. Quinone methides, detected by laser flash photolysis, are the key intermediates involved in such a synthetic protocol, which undergo reversible nucleophilic conjugate additions by a great variety of nitrogen nucleophiles (amines and alpha-amino acid derivatives) with complete configuration retention of the BINOL moiety.     

Substituents on quinone methides strongly modulate formation and stability of their nucleophilic adducts

Electronic perturbation of quinone methides (QM) greatly influences their stability and in turn alters the kinetics and product profile of QM reaction with deoxynucleosides. Consistent with the electron-deficient nature of this reactive intermediate, electron-donating substituents are stabilizing and electron-withdrawing substituents are destabilizing. For example, a dC N3-QM adduct is made stable over the course of observation (7 days) by the presence of an electron-withdrawing ester group that inhibits QM regeneration. Conversely, a related adduct with an electron-donating methyl group is very labile and regenerates its QM with a half-life of approximately 5 h. The generality of these effects is demonstrated with a series of alternative quinone methide precursors (QMP) containing a variety of substituents attached at different positions with respect to the exocyclic methylene. The rates of nucleophilic addition to substituted QMs measured by laser flash photolysis similarly span 5 orders of magnitude with electron-rich species reacting most slowly and electron-deficient species reacting most quickly. The reversibility of QM reaction can now be predictably adjusted for any desired application.     

Role of electron-transfer processes in reactions of diarylcarbenium ions and related quinone methides with nucleophiles

Second-harmonic alternating current voltammetry has been used to determine one-electron reduction potentials of 15 diarylcarbenium ions and 5 structurally analogous quinone methides, which have been employed as reference electrophiles for the development of nucleophilicity scales. A linear correlation (r(2) = 0.993) between the empirical electrophilicity parameters E and the reduction potentials in acetonitrile (E = 14.091E degrees (red) - 0.279) covering a range of 1.64 V (or 158 kJ mol(-)(1)) has been observed. For a large number of nucleophiles, it has been demonstrated that the observed activation free energies of the electrophile-nucleophile combinations are 61-195 kJ mol(-)(1) smaller than the free energy change of electron transfer from nucleophile to electrophile, which definitely excludes outer-sphere electron transfer occurring during these reactions.     

Reactions of carbanions derived from α-substituted-methyl tolyl sulfones with quinone methides as Michael acceptors

Nucleophilic addition of α-halo-4-tolylsulfonyl methyl anions to quinone methides and subsequent reactions were studied. Three kinds of consecutive reaction products were isolated, depending on the substrate structures and reaction conditions. Two of them were identified as rearrangement products and one as the vicarious nucleophilic substitution (VNS) product. An unexpected 1,2-migration of the tosyl group was observed. The mechanism of the reactions is briefly discussed.     

Quinones and quinone methides—IV: Dimerization reactions of 2-phenylmethyl-5-methoxy-1,4-benzoquinones

Base catalyzed dimerization of 2-(4-methoxyphenylmethyl)-5-methoxy-1,4-benzoquinone 6 yields as the chief product an unusual tetrahydroxanthen derivative 7a. The structure of 7a suggests that it is formed by combination of two molecules of the ortho-quinone methide tautomer of 6. Rearrangement of 7a yields the dihydro-oxepin derivative 15 and the indanspirocyclohexene derivatives 17 and 18a, all of which are formed as minor products in the dimerization of 6. In contrast to 6 related 2-(1-phenylethyl)-1,4-benzoquinones do not dimerize in basic media.     

Sterically congested, hexameric tetrakispyridinyl-Pd(II)/Cd(II)-metallomacrocycles: self-assembly and structural characterization

Hexagonal Pd(II)- or Cd(II)-tetrakispyridinyl-based macrocycles are quantitatively self-assembled from 4'-(3-pyridinyl)-4,4'-di(tert-butyl)-2,2'?:?6',2'-terpyridine and structurally confirmed by NMR and TWIM-MS.     

Quinones and quinone methides—II: cyclization and hydration reactions of 2-cinnamyl-5-methoxy-1,4-benzoquinones

4-Methoxydalbergione, a constituent of Dalbergia species, is stable in neutral solvents, although it cyclizes quantitatively in basic media to dalbergichromene. The isomeric 2-cinnamyl-5-methoxybenzoquinone is highly labile. It cyclizes in boiling benzene to 7-methoxy-6-hydroxyflav-3-ene, slowly dimerises in acetone, and decomposes in aqueous solvents to at least thirteen unidentified monomeric and oligomeric products. In weakly basic media it forms the flavene and two unstable quinols which have been isolated and structurally identified as their crystalline benzoates. It is suggested that the absence of cinnamyl-quinones or identifiable derivatives in Dalbergia species is due to their facile polymerization, and that they may be the precursors of the condensed tannins in these species.     

Nucleophilicity parameters for amines, amino acids and peptides in water. Variations in selectivities for quinone methides

Second order rate constants for reactions of 4,4'-dimethylaminobenzhydrylium cations with amines and other nucleophiles in water define a scale of nucleophilicity (N(+)' = log k + 2.63). The N(+)' scale can be extended by linking directly to an established N(+) scale based on reactions of methyl vinyl pyridinium cations with amine nucleophiles. Logarithms of rate constants for other benzhydrylium ions and quinone methides (QMs) are correlated by the equation: log k = s(E)N(+)' + constant, having a nucleophilicity parameter (N(+)' defined as in the Ritchie N(+) equation with N(+)' = 4.75 for hydroxide ion), and an electrophile's response (selectivity) parameter (s(E), as in the Swain-Scott equation). Correlations for other benzhydrylium cations require only one slope and one intercept per cation, and fit data for up to 54 amines, amino acids and peptide nucleophiles; the slope s(E) increases as the reactivity of the cation decreases. Contrary to recent reports, s(E) is significantly less than unity for reactions of o- and p-benzoquinone methides. As the reactivities of QMs decrease, s(E) increases and the response of s(E) to changes in reactivity is larger for QMs than for cations.     

Non-enzymatic reduction of quinone methides during oxidative coupling of monolignols: implications for the origin of benzyl structures in lignins

Lignin is believed to be synthesized by oxidative coupling of 4-hydroxyphenylpropanoids. In native lignin there are some types of reduced structures that cannot be explained solely by oxidative coupling. In the present work we showed via biomimetic model experiments that nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), in an uncatalyzed process, reduced a beta-aryl ether quinone methide to its benzyl derivative. A number of other biologically significant reductants, including the enzyme cellobiose dehydrogenase, failed to produce the reduced structures. Synthetic dehydrogenation polymers of coniferyl alcohol synthesized (under oxidative conditions) in the presence of the reductant NADH produced the same kind of reduced structures as in the model experiment, demonstrating that oxidative and reductive processes can occur in the same environment, and that reduction of the in situ-generated quinone methides was sufficiently competitive with water addition. In situ reduction of beta-beta-quinone methides was not achieved in this study. The origin of racemic benzyl structures in lignins therefore remains unknown, but the potential for simple chemical reduction is demonstrated here.     

Intramolecular interactions and nature of the lowest electronically excited states in compounds modeling lignin. III. Quinones and quinone methides

An investigation has been made by the CNDO/S method with allowance for configurational interaction (the lowest six vacant and the highest eight occupied MMOs) of the electronic structure of a number of quinones and quinone methides forming component parts of the structural unit of lignin. The energies of the first singlet-singlet and singlet-triplet transitions and the redistribution of charges on excitation have been obtained, and the dependence of the energy of the transitions on the chromophores present in the molecule has been discussed. The change in the donor-acceptor properties of the fragments in excited states, leading to a change in the pathways in nucleophilic and electrophilic reactions has been shown.A. A. Zhdanov Irkutsk State University. Translated from Khimiya Prirodynkh Soedinenii, No. 6, pp. 858–865, November–December, 1988.     

Sterically congested ‘roofed’ 2-thiazolines as new chiral ligands for copper(II)-catalyzed asymmetric Diels-Alder reactions

Newly introduced chiral ‘roofed’ 2-thiazolines, prepared from sterically congested, conformationally rigid chiral 2-aminothiols, function as efficient chiral ligands for the asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and 3-acryloyl-2-oxazolidinone.     

Intramolecular interactions and nature of the lowest electronically excited states in compounds modeling lignin. III. Quinones and quinone methides

An investigation has been made by the CNDO/S method with allowance for configurational interaction (the lowest six vacant and the highest eight occupied MMOs) of the electronic structure of a number of quinones and quinone methides forming component parts of the structural unit of lignin. The energies of the first singlet-singlet and singlet-triplet transitions and the redistribution of charges on excitation have been obtained, and the dependence of the energy of the transitions on the chromophores present in the molecule has been discussed. The change in the donor-acceptor properties of the fragments in excited states, leading to a change in the pathways in nucleophilic and electrophilic reactions has been shown.     

Sterically congested tripodal phosphites: conformational analysis,solid-state polymorphism,metal complexation,and application to the asymmetric hydrosilation of ketones

The synthesis as well as isolation and crystallographic analysis of two solid-state polymorphs of the tripodal ligand tri[2,2',2' '-tris[(2,4,8,10-tetrakis(1,1-dimethylethyl)dibenzo[d,f][1,3,2]dioxaphosphepin-6-yl)oxy]ethyl]amine (3) is described. Form I crystallized from ethyl acetate in the space group P2(1)/n with the unit-cell parameters a = 20.070(10) A, b = 17.477(2) A, c = 27.620(3) A, and beta = 93.050(10) degrees, V = 9674.5(14) A(3), and Z = 4. Form II crystallized from a mixture of acetone and toluene in the space group P1 with the unit-cell parameters a = 12.493(1) A, b = 19.701(2) A, c = 21.027(2) A, alpha = 116.23(1) degrees, beta = 100.15(1) degrees, and gamma = 91.07(1) degrees, V = 4542 A(3), and Z = 2. Differences in the relative absolute stereochemistry of the stereoaxes in the seven-membered dibenzo[d,f][1,3,2]dioxaphosphepin ring are discussed. The synthesis and X-ray characterization of enantiomerically pure (S,S,S)-tri[2,2',2' '-tris[(2,4,8,10-tetrakis(1,1-dimethylethyl)dibenzo[d,f][1,3,2]dioxaphosphepin-6-yl)oxy]propyl]amine [(S,S,S)-7] are reported. Two crystallographically independent molecules exist in the unit cell that cannot be superimposed with each other by either a translation or a symmetry operation. The two solid-state conformers in the unit cell differed predominately by the absolute stereochemistry of the stereoaxes in the seven-membered dibenzo[d,f][1,3,2]dioxaphosphepin ring. The Rh(I)-catalyzed hydrosilation of acetophenone with the chiral ligands (R,R,S)-7 and (S,S,S)-7 showed significant differences in chiral induction. Chiral cooperativity between the stereoaxes and stereocenters in (S,S,S)-7 is observed. The mechanism of the communication between the stereocenters and stereoaxes leading to chiral cooperativity in the stereoselective transition state is suggested to be primarily steric in nature.