Chemo,regio and stereoselectivity in the reaction of p-bromobenzaldehyde with α-ethoxycrotyltributyltin

The reaction of p-bromobenzaldehyde (1) with α-ethoxycrotyltributyltin (2) has proved amenable to control in terms of chemo, regio and stereochemistry, using appropriate experimental conditions, namely Pd(PPh₃)₄ catalysis, BF₃.Et₂O catalysis or simple heating. In the latter case, a dramatic kinetic effect has been observed: 2E has been proved to be much more reactive (and much more stereoselective) than 2Z.     

Chiral amine-induced stereoselectivity in trans-β-lactam formation via Staudinger cycloaddition

A series of chiral trans-β-lactams was obtained via Staudinger cycloaddition with low to moderate diastereoselectivity (up to 54% de) induced by a chiral amine component of the imine. It was shown that the direct connection of nitrogen to a chiral centre is crucial to induce chirality; moderate asymmetric induction was achieved by using isomeric 1-phenylethylamines, which are among the cheapest chiral sources on the market, while low diastereoselectivity was obtained from 3-aminomethylpinane, where the chiral centres are distant from nitrogen by a methylene group. It was shown, that an increase of the reaction temperature from 110 °C to 140 °C led to commensurable results but speeded-up the transformation significantly. The absolute configurations of phenylethylamine derivatives were determined by X-ray analysis of selected samples.     

Transition state variation in the menshutkin reaction?

Data for reaction of CH₃I and CD₃I with substituted pyridines were previously argued to indicate a variant transition state as rate of reaction was varied, but the fact that both sets of results follow LFER's may be taken as evidence against such a conclusion.     

Transition-metal catalysis in michael addition of β-dicarbonyls : Tuning of the reaction conditions

(2,4- Pentanedionato) copper(I) and bis(2,4-pentanedionato)copper(II) together with boron trifluoride etherate catalyze Michael addition of β-dicarbonyls to cyclohexenone, cyclopentenone, 2-methylcyclopentenone, and 3-thienylidenemalonaldehyde.     

Origins of stereoselectivity in the α-alkylation of chiral hydrazones

Density functional theory calculations and experiment reveal the origin of stereoselectivity in the deprotonation-alkylation of chiral N-amino cyclic carbamate (ACC) hydrazones. When the ACC is a rigid, camphor-derived carbamate, the two conformations of the azaenolate intermediate differ in energy due to conformational effects within the oxazolidinone ring and steric interactions between the ACC and the azaenolate. An electrophile adds selectively to the less-hindered π-face of the azaenolate. Although it was earlier reported that use of ACC auxiliaries led to α-alkylated ketones with er values of 82:18 to 98:2, B3LYP calculations predict higher stereoselectivity. Direct measurement of the dr of an alkylated hydrazone prior to removal of the auxiliary confirms this prediction; the removal of the auxiliary under the reported conditions can compromise the overall stereoselectivity of the process.     

Microwave-assisted Cannizzaro reaction—Optimisation of reaction conditions

The microwave-assisted Cannizzaro reaction was studied in order to develop fully reproducible synthetic protocols for transformation of aldehydes to carboxylic acid and alcohols. Optimised were the following process parameters: power, temperature, and time. Aromatic, heteroaromatic and aliphatic aldehydes were used in the studies. It was found that furfural, thiophene-2-carbaldehyde, pyridinecarboxaldehyde and aromatic aldehydes react under mild conditions, while 1-methyl-pyrrole-2-carboxaldehyde derivatives and aliphatic aldehydes require more drastic reaction conditions and a longer exposure time to microwave radiation.     

Can an external magnetic field affect the thermal reaction of pentafluorobenzyl chloride with n-butyllithium in hexane?

The magnetic field effects reported in 1973 for the thermal reaction of pentafluorobenzyl chloride with n-butyllithium in hexane were re-examined at 23±3°C with modern techniques. Using a new reaction apparatus, which has an electromagnet (up to 14.9 kG) in a glove box under argon atmosphere (H₂O and O₂<1 ppm), we studied the magnetic field effects on the yields of final products of pentafluorophenylpentane and decafluorodiphenylethane in the absence and presence of an external magnetic field of 14.9 kG. No significant magnetic field effect was observed upon the yields of pentafluorophenylpentane and decafluorodiphenylethane under well-controlled conditions with sufficient repetitions.     

Achieving chemo-, regio-, and stereoselectivity in palladium-catalyzed reaction of γ-borylated allylic acetates

Three-carbon highly functionalized γ-borylated allylic acetates underwent a regio- and stereocontrolled Tsuji-Trost reaction in the presence of palladium complexes. An ipso substitution of the acetate with complete stereoretention of the chiral center was achieved, leading to vinylic boronates with enantiomeric excesses above 99%.     

Ethyl α-cyanoacrylate in the Michael reaction

Ethyl -cyanocarylate undergoes the Michael reaction with strong CH-acids (pK _a < 13) in the presence of strong basic amines such as butylamine, piperidine, and triethylamine. Only polymerization of ethyl -cyanoacrylate occurs under the same conditions with weaker CH-acids in the presence of less basic amines such as aniline, N-methylaniline, and pyridine.A. N. Nesmeyanov Institute of Organometallic Compounds, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117813 Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 10, pp. 2449–2452, October, 1992.     

β-Oxo-sulfoxide rearrangements under sila-Pummerer reaction conditions

Under sila-Pummerer reaction conditions, the β-oxo-sulfoxide 1 gave rise to a new pentacyclic compound 5. The structure of 5 was deduced from spectral data and by X-ray analysis of the sulfoxide 6 which was formed by subsequent oxidation.     

Concentration and temperature dependency of regio- and stereoselectivity in a photochemical [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction (the Paternò-Büchi reaction): origin of the hydroxy-group directivity

A set of photochemical oxetane formation reactions, i.e., the Paterno?-Bu?chi (PB) reactions, of tetrahydrobenzofuranol derivatives 1a-d with benzophenone (BP) was investigated to examine poorly understood hydroxy-group directivity on regio- and stereoselectivity. The selectivities of the PB reactions for allylic alcohols 1a,d were found to be largely dependent upon the concentration of the allylic alcohols and the reaction temperature. The temperature-dependent change of the regioselectivity at high concentrations of allylic alcohols was similar to that of the hydroxy-protected methyl ether 1b and tetrahydrobenzofuran (1c). The effect of concentration on regioselectivity can be explained by the hydrogen-bonded aggregates, which mimic the selectivities observed during the PB reaction of 1b,c. The hydroxy-directed cis-selectivity of the higher-substituted oxetane 3a,d formed at low concentration of 1a,d was found to be larger than that at the higher concentration of 1a,d. The cis-selectivity of 3a,d was found to be higher than that of the lower-substituted oxetane 2a,d. The regioselectivity of the cis-configured oxetanes was higher than that of the trans-configured oxetanes. These experimental results strongly suggest that hydroxy-group directivity, induced by hydrogen-bonding stabilization, plays a role in controlling the regio- and stereoselectivity of the PB reactions. The steric effect was also responsible for the diastereoselectivity, as shown by the fact that the cis selectivity in 3d was higher than that in 3a. Computational studies at the (U)MP2 and (U)DFT level of theory revealed that hydrogen-bonding stabilization becomes important only in the excited complex (exciplex) between the triplet excited state of carbonyls and alkenes, in which the charge transfer occurs from the alkene to the excited carbonyl to make the carbonyl oxygen nucleophilic. No significant stabilization energy was found in the intermediary triplet state of biradicals. The combined experimental and computational studies have clarified the origin of the poorly understood hydroxy-group effect on a high degree of regio- and stereoselectivity, i.e., the cooperative effect of hydrogen-bonding stabilization in exciplexes and the steric bulk of the substituents.     

How does solvent molecular size affect the microscopic structure in polymer solutions?

Monte Carlo simulation has been used to investigate the effects of linear solvent molecular size on polymer chain conformation in solutions. Increasing the solvent molecular size leads to shrinkage of the polymer chains and increase of the critical overlap concentrations. The root-mean-square radius of gyration of polymer chains (R(g)) is less sensitive to the variation of polymer concentration in solutions of larger solvent molecules. In addition, the dependency of R(g) on polymer concentration under normal solvent conditions and solvent molecular size is in good agreement with scaling laws. When the solvent molecular size approaches the ideal end-to-end distance of the polymer chain, an extra aggregation of polymer chains occurs, and the solvent becomes the so-called medium-sized solvent. When the size of solvent molecules is smaller than the medium size, the polymer chains are swollen or partially swollen. However, when the size of solvent molecules is larger than the medium size, the polymer coils shrink and segregate, enwrapped by the large solvent molecules.     

Regiochemistry in the Pauson-Khand reaction: has a trans effect been overlooked?

Alkyne-dicobalt hexacarbonyl complexes have been studied by DFT to examine whether electronic differences in the acetylenic substituents could play a role in determining the regiochemical outcome in the Pauson-Khand reaction. It appears that in some instances the regiochemistry is, in fact, governed exclusively by the electronic nature of the acetylenic substituents through the discriminant loss of a carbon monoxide ligand.     

Do the neighboring residues in a polypeptide affect the electron distribution of an amino acid significantly? A quantitative study using the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM)

Geometries, as well as bond and atomic properties obtained with the atoms-in-molecules theory applied on B3LYP/6-31++G//B3LYP/6-31G charge densities, of the N-formyl amides of the nine tripeptides obtained by combining glycine, alanine, and serine around a central glycine residue were analyzed to check how the properties of the central residue are modified by other amino acids bonded to it. All of the molecules were optimized from an alpha-helix conformation that was also displayed by the optimized structure. Significant variations of the geometry (especially remarkable for dihedral angles) and atomic properties of the central glycine residue are observed when it is attached to a serine residue whose side chain is involved in a hydrogen bond.     

Do you believe in wavefunctions?

The Computational Perspective

Do you believe in wavefunctions?     

Do Xylylenes Isomerize in Pyrolysis?

We report infrared spectra of xylylene isomers in the gas phase, using free electron laser (FEL) radiation. All xylylenes were generated by flash pyrolysis. The IR spectra were obtained by monitoring the ion dip signal, using a IR/UV double resonance scheme. A gas phase IR spectrum of para-xylylene  was recorded, whereas ortho- and meta-xylylene were found to partially rearrange to benzocyclobutene and styrene. Computations of the UV oscillator strength  for all molecules were carried out and provde an explanation for the observation of the isomerization products.     

How does cross-linking affect the stability of block copolymer vesicles in the presence of surfactant?

Block copolymer vesicles are conveniently prepared directly in water at relatively high solids by polymerization-induced self-assembly using an aqueous dispersion polymerization formulation based on 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate. However, dynamic light scattering studies clearly demonstrate that addition of small molecule surfactants to such linear copolymer vesicles disrupts the vesicular membrane. This causes rapid vesicle dissolution in the case of ionic surfactants, with nonionic surfactants proving somewhat less destructive. To address this problem, glycidyl methacrylate can be copolymerized with 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate and the resulting epoxy-functional block copolymer vesicles are readily cross-linked in aqueous solution using cheap commercially available polymeric diamines. Such epoxy-amine chemistry confers exceptional surfactant tolerance on the cross-linked vesicles and also leads to a distinctive change in their morphology, as judged by transmission electron microscopy. Moreover, pendent unreacted amine groups confer cationic character on these cross-linked vesicles and offer further opportunities for functionalization.