Aggregation and reactivity in aqueous solutions of cationic surfactants and aromatic anions across concentration scales

The use of aqueous solutions as solvents in synthetic chemistry is one of the pathways towards more sustainable chemical processes. To increase solubility of reactants in aqueous solutions, surfactants can be used. In particular as a result of detailed kinetic studies involving probe reactions, our current understanding of the reaction environment offered by micelles is good to excellent. However, this understanding does not always translate well to reactions on a synthetic scale because concentrations are typically very different from concentrations used in probe reactions. These high concentrations may lead to changes in aggregate morphologies, in particular where aromatic anions are used in combination with cationic surfactants. An overview of aggregation processes and aggregate morphologies across concentration scales is presented together with a discussion of the resulting effects on reactivity in solutions containing cationic surfactants and (reactive) aromatic anions.     

Highly efficient heterogeneous synthesis of benzofurans under aqueous condition

Highly efficient organic reactions in water are important for designing environmental-friendly and low cost synthetic processes. Herein, we demonstrate an intermediate-in-water strategy for the heterogeneous synthesis of benzofurans in aqueous media. The cyclization reaction of 2-(phenylethynyl)phenol to 2-phenylbenzofuran cannot proceed in pure water. However, this reaction can be efficiently promoted by the formation of sparingly soluble intermediate in the presence of alkaline. Quantitative conversion of a variety of substrates to benzofuran derivatives has been achieved in the absence of noble metal catalyst. Other remarkable features including easy-isolation and purification of product, along with wide range of functional group tolerance render the methodology promising in the realm of green-synthesis.     

Reactions in Water Involving the “On-Water” Mechanism

Ever-evolving catalyst advances in synthetic protocols using water as a reaction medium have enriched the understanding of sustainable organic chemistry. Because conventional classification and definitions were ambivalent, it is proposed here that catalytic reactions using water be collectively called to be “in water”, with further classification into seven types. When accelerated in water as heterogeneous mixtures, the reactions can be regarded as following an “on-water” mechanism. The original term “on water” coined by Sharpless is incongruous with catalytic reactions, whereas on-water used in this review covers all the interfaces involving water where chemical reactions are accelerated. As a result of the unconcluded dispute on the antiquated catalyst-free “on water” model, the modified model defines three water layers: water molecules that are oriented to extrude protons toward the oil phase in the inner layer, those enwrapped by a secondary layer, and finally the bulk water layer. In light of the latitudinous outlook on the role of water at the interface, selected examples of reactions, in particular those reported over the past decade, that follow an “on-water” mechanism are reviewed herein.     

Recent progress and current applications of Sonogashira coupling reaction in water

The use of aqueous media in palladium‐catalyzed reactions has become popular because water‐based synthetic processes are inherently safer as well as being inexpensive. Moreover, it does not require dry solvents, and the products may easily be isolated by extraction, which greatly facilitates the operation. Thus the use of water in palladium‐catalyzed reactions represents one of the most economically and environmentally viable options for many organic transformations. In this review, recent developments of Sonogashira reaction in water or aqueous media will be disclosed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Metal Nanoparticle‐Catalyzed Reduction Using Borohydride in Aqueous Media: A Kinetic Analysis of the Surface Reaction by Microfluidic SERS

Hydrides are widely used in reduction reactions. In protic solvents, their hydrolysis generates molecular hydrogen as a second reducing agent. The competition between these two parallel reduction pathways has been overlooked so far since both typically yield the same product. We investigated the platinum‐catalyzed reduction of 4‐nitrothiophenol to 4‐aminothiophenol in aqueous sodium borohydride solution as a prominent model reaction, by using label‐free SERS monitoring in a microfluidic reactor. Kinetic analysis revealed a strong pH dependence. Surprisingly, only at pH>13 the reduction is driven exclusively by sodium borohydride. This study demonstrates the potential of microfluidics‐based kinetic SERS monitoring of heterogeneous catalysis in colloidal suspension.     

Catalytic asymmetric carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions in aqueous media

Use of water as a reaction solvent or co-solvent has received much attention in synthetic organic chemistry. Recently, successful examples of catalytic asymmetric carbon-carbon bond formation in aqueous media have been developed. Most of these examples show characteristic features that are realized only in the presence of water. The role of water in these reactions is also discussed here.     

Plasma-Induced Synthesis of Organic Compounds From Graphite and Aqueous Solution

Discharge experiments were performed to explore the synthesis between graphite and aqueous solution. It was found that atomic carbon was transferred from anode into the solution by arc-discharge experiments and various kinds of organic compounds were generated by synthetic reactions from graphite and water or ammonia water. Carboxylic acids and amino acids were identified in the products by GC-MS and HPLC analyses. It is well known that graphite can hardly combine with other substances under common conditions. So the reaction not only provided an interesting attempt for the chemical transformation from graphite to organic compounds but also served as a useful reference for the formation of organic compounds from atomic carbon under primitive earth conditions.     

Diarylprolinol as an Effective Organocatalyst in Asymmetric Cross-Aldol Reactions of Two Different Aldehydes

The aldol reaction is one of the most important carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions in organic chemistry. Asymmetric direct cross-aldol reaction of two different aldehydes has been regarded as a difficult reaction because of the side reactions such as self-aldol reaction and over reaction. We found that trifluoromethyl-substituted diarylprolinol, α,α-bis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-2-pyrrolidinemethanol ( 1 ), is an effective organocatalyst that promotes several cross-aldol reactions of aldehydes with excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities. Acetaldehyde can be employed as a suitable nucleophilic aldehyde. Successful electrophilic aldehydes are ethyl glyoxylate, chloroacetaldehyde, dichloroacetaldehyde, chloral, α-alkyl-α-oxo aldehyde, trifluoroacetaldehyde, glyoxal, alkenyl aldehyde, alkynyl aldehyde, and formaldehyde. Some of the aldehydes are commercially available as a polymer solution, an aqueous solution, or in the hydrated form. They can be used directly in the asymmetric aldol reaction as a commercially available form, which is a synthetic advantage. Given that the obtained aldol products possess several functional groups along with a formyl moiety, they are synthetically useful chiral building blocks.     

Conversion of polymers and biomass to chemical intermediates with supercritical water

Recent results are described on conversion of polymers and biomass to chemical intermediates and monomers by using subcritical and supercritical water as the reaction solvent. Reactions of cellulose in supercritical water are rapid (<50 ms) and proceed to 100% conversion with no char formation. They show a remarkable increase in hydrolysis products and lower pyrolysis products when compared with reactions in subcritical water. Further, there is a jump in the reaction rate of cellulose at the critical temperature of water. If the methods used for cellulose are applied to synthetic polymers, such as PET, nylon or others, high liquid yields can be achieved although the reactions require about 10 min for complete conversion. The reason is the heterogeneous nature of the reaction system. For polyethylene, higher yields of short-chain hydrocarbons, higher alkene/alkane ratios and higher conversions were obtained in supercritical water than those obtained by pyrolysis.     

Graphene Oxide as a Carbocatalyst for a Diels–Alder Reaction in an Aqueous Medium

The Diels–Alder (DA) reaction, a [4+2] cycloaddition reaction, is highly important in synthetic organic chemistry and is frequently used in the synthesis of natural products containing six‐membered rings. Herein, we report an efficient protocol for the DA reaction between 9‐hydroxymethylanthracene and N‐substituted maleimides using two‐dimensional graphene oxide (GO) as a heterogeneous carbocatalyst in an aqueous medium at room temperature. High yields, a wide substrate scope, low temperature, excellent functional group tolerance, atom economy, and water as a green solvent are noteworthy features of this protocol. The heterogeneous GO catalyst can be easily recovered and used multiple times without any significant loss in catalytic activity.     

Time-resolved resonance Raman study of the reaction of the 2-fluorenylnitrenium ion with 2-fluorenylazide

A time-resolved resonance Raman investigation of the reaction of the 2-fluorenylnitrenium ion with 2-fluorenylazide in a mixed aqueous solvent is presented. The reaction of the 2-fluorenylnitrenium ion with 2-fluorenylazide in the mixed aqueous solution generates two new species on the microsecond time scale. One of these species is identified as 2,2'-azobisfluorene, and the other species is tentatively assigned to a 1,4-bis-(2,2'-fluorenyl)-tetrazadiene cation intermediate. The structure and properties of these two species are briefly discussed. The reaction of the 2-fluorenylnitrenium ion with 2-fluorenylazide is also briefly compared to that of the 2-fluorenylnitrenium ion reactions with guanosine and water.     

Wittig reactions in water media employing stabilized ylides with aldehydes. Synthesis of alpha,beta-unsaturated esters from mixing aldehydes, alpha-bromoesters, and Ph3P in aqueous NaHCO3

Water is demonstrated to be an effective medium for the Wittig reaction over a wide range of stabilized ylides and aldehydes. Despite sometimes poor solubility of the reactants, good chemical yields normally ranging from 80 to 98% and high E-selectivities (up to 99%) are achieved, and the rate of the reactions in water is unexpectedly accelerated. The efficiency of water as a medium in the Wittig reaction is compared to conventional organic solvents ranging from carbon tetrachloride to methanol. The aqueous Wittig reaction works best when large hydrophobic entities are present, such as aromatic, heterocyclic aromatic carboxaldehydes, and long-chain aliphatic aldehydes with triphenylphosphoranes. The E/Z-isomeric ratio of the Wittig products appears dependent on the electron-accepting/donating capacity and the location of the substituents present in the aromatic ring. The effect of additives, such as benzoic acid, LiCl, and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), on the Wittig reaction has been explored. The Wittig reaction can also be conducted in the presence of acidic entities, such as phenols and carboxylic acids. In addition, large alpha-substituents in the aliphatic aldehydes do not jeopardize the reaction. It is also demonstrated that hydrates of aldehydes can be used directly in the aqueous Wittig reaction as substrates. The scope of the aqueous Wittig reaction is extended to 24 examples of one-pot mixtures of Ph3P, alpha-bromoesters, and aldehydes in sodium bicarbonate solution (at 20 degrees C for 40 min to 3 h) to provide Wittig products of up to 99% yield and up to 98% E-selectivity. Since water is inexpensive, extremely easy to handle, and represents no environmental concerns, it should be considered a possible medium for new organic reactions.     

Comparison of Photochemical Reactions of m-Cresol in Aqueous Solution and in Ice

We compared the photochemical reaction of m-cresol containing OH precursors such as H₂O₂, NO₂^- and NO₃^- in aqueous solution with those in ice. The results show that the conversion rate of m-cresol in aqueous solution was higher than that in ice. H₂O₂, NO₂^- and NO₃^- all accelerated the photoconversion of m-cresol in both aqueous solution and ice. The photochemical reactions of m-cresol obeys the first order kinetics equation. According to the photoproducts identified by GC-MS, we proposed that hydroxylation and nitration reactions occurred in both aqueous solution and ice. Coupling reaction was common in ice, however, in aqueous solution it was found only in UV system. Our results suggest that the photochemical reactions of m-cresol were different in aqueous solution and in ice.     

The Role of Hydrothermal Synthesis in Preparative Chemistry

“Hydrothermal synthesis” usually refers to heterogeneous reactions in aqueous media above 100°C and 1 bar. The previously common distinction between hydrothermal conditions below and pneumatolytic conditions above the critical point is no longer made, since no discontinuities are observed upon exceeding the critical conditions. Under hydrothermal conditions, reactants otherwise difficult to dissolve go into solution as complexes, in whose formation water itself or very soluble “mineralizers” can participate. Thus, one can obtain the conditions of chemical transport reactions,^[1] of which hydrothermal syntheses can be considered a special case. During recent decades in the geological sciences—in which the method is also historically rooted—it has received a strong impulse, whose effect on preparative solid state chemistry is discussed here.     

Sustainable Peptide Synthesis Enabled by a Transient Protecting Group

The growing interest in synthetic peptides has prompted the development of viable methods for their sustainable production. Currently, large amounts of toxic solvents are required for peptide assembly from protected building blocks, and switching to water as a reaction medium remains a major hurdle in peptide chemistry. We report an aqueous solid‐phase peptide synthesis strategy that is based on a water‐compatible 2,7‐disulfo‐9‐fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Smoc) protecting group. This approach enables peptide assembly under aqueous conditions, real‐time monitoring of building block coupling, and efficient postsynthetic purification. The procedure for the synthesis of all natural and several non‐natural Smoc‐protected amino acids is described, as well as the assembly of 22 peptide sequences and the fundamental issues of SPPS, including the protecting group strategy, coupling and cleavage efficiency, stability under aqueous conditions, and crucial side reactions.     

Dy(OTf)3 Catalyzed Reaction of Indole with Aldehydes and Ketones in Ionic Liquids

The use of environmentally benign reaction media is very important in view of today' s environmentally con scious attitude. In connect with this, room temperature ionic liquids that are air and moisture stable have received a good deal of attention in recent years as novel solvent systems for organic synthesis. A number of reactions such as Friedel-Crafts reactions, Diels-Alder cycloadditions, hydrogenations, and Heck reactions have employed ionic liquids as solvents. Among them, the Friedel-Crafts reaction[1] is of great synthetic significance in view of laboratory synthesis and industrial production. Recent studies showed that Friedel-Crafts reaction of indole with carbonyl compounds proceeded readily in aqueous media. [2] However, the aqueous reactions suffer from some common problems,such as tedious work-up, reuse of catalyst and so on.     

CO adsorption and oxidation at the catalyst-water interface: an investigation by attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy

Adsorption of carbon monoxide and oxidation of preadsorbed carbon monoxide from gas and aqueous phases were studied on a platinum catalyst deposited on a ZnSe internal reflection element (IRE) using attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy. The results of this study convincingly show that it is possible to prepare platinum metal layers strongly attached to an IRE, which are stable for over 3 days in aqueous-phase experiments. It is shown that ATR-IR spectroscopy is a suitable technique to study adsorption and catalytic reactions occurring at the interface of a solid catalyst in an aqueous reaction mixture, even with an extreme low-surface-area catalyst. Clearly, ATR-IR spectroscopy allows for a direct comparison of reactions on a catalytic surface in gas and liquid phases on the same sample. CO was found to adsorb both linearly and bridged on the platinum metal layer when adsorbed from the gas phase, but only linear CO was detected in aqueous solution, although with 5 times higher intensity. Oxidation of preadsorbed CO on platinum occurs in both gas phase, wetted gas, and aqueous media and was found to be 2 times faster in the aqueous phase compared to gas-phase oxidation because of a promoting effect of water. Moreover, during oxidation at room temperature, CO2 adsorbed on Pt/ZnSe was detected in both gas and aqueous phases.     

分子催化剂催化水氧化过程及其O–O成键机理

随着化石燃料的不断消耗和生存环境的日益恶化,可再生、清洁且环境友好的新能源逐渐受到广泛关注与利用.太阳能作为一种洁净的可再生能源,在自然界中,植物可以通过光合作用将太阳能转换成化学能.在该过程中,水分子在光系统II中被氧化而释放出氧气,伴随生成的质子和电子进一步将二氧化碳转化为蕴含生物质能的碳水化合物.在光系统II中,叶绿素P680被光照激发生成阳离子自由基P680^·+,其具有很强的氧化能力,可以从附近的析氧中心中夺取电子.析氧中心通过这一过程失去4个电子,可以将两分子水氧化生成一分子氧气和4个质子.作为水裂解的半反应之一,水氧化在热力学方面需要很多能量来断裂4个O-H键(ΔE=1.23 V vs.NHE),在动力学方面涉及4个氢原子与2个氧原子的重组以及氧气的释放,因而水氧化析氧是一个非常缓慢的过程,如何高效稳定地催化水氧化一直是人们研究的热点和难点.研究发现,自然界中存在的析氧中心为Mn₄CaO(x)的钙锰簇合物,在水氧化过程中生成的Mn=O物种可以被游离的水分子亲核进攻形成O-O键,也可以与桥连μ-O(H)反应生成O-O键.通过对析氧中心持续的研究,在过去几十年中设计合成了一系列具有水氧化催化活性的基于金属配合物的分子催化剂.分子催化剂催化水氧化一般主要分为金属-氧物种的演化过程以及O-O成键过程.通常,金属-氧物种可以通过失电子或质子耦合的失电子过程逐步生成高价态的金属-氧物种,其引发的O-O成键过程通常是水氧化催化循环的决速步骤.基于之前的研究成果,目前主要报道了五种不同的O-O成键机理:(1)水亲核进攻金属-氧物种的WNA机理,(2)金属-氧自由基耦合的I2M机理,(3)金属-羟基自由基耦合的HC机理,(4)分子内进攻桥连氧的IOC机理以及(5)氧化还原异构的RI机理.本文综述了过去几十年水氧化分子催化剂的发展,总结了贵金属钌和铱配合物到第一过渡金属锰、铁、钴、镍和铜配合物催化水氧化过程中金属-氧物种的生成与演化,重点阐述了引发O-O成键过程的高价态金属-氧物种的种类及其不同的O-O成键机理.重点总结了O-O成键中WNA机理与I2M机理的异同,并阐述了催化剂设计对WNA与I2M机理选择性的影响.通过对金属-氧物种种类和O-O成键机理的总结,将有助于进一步设计合成高效稳定的水氧化分子催化剂.     

On the reactive uptake of gaseous compounds by organic-coated aqueous aerosols: theoretical analysis and application to the heterogeneous hydrolysis of N2O5

The presence of organic coatings on aerosols may have important consequences to the atmospheric chemistry, in particular to the N2O5 heterogeneous hydrolysis. This is demonstrated by recent experiments which show that the uptake of N2O5 by aqueous aerosols is slowed considerably when an organic coating consisting of monoterpene oxidation products is added on the particles. To treat the mechanisms behind the suppression, an extension of the resistor model, which has been widely applied in investigation of the heterogeneous uptake by aerosols, was derived. The extension accounts for dissolution, diffusion, and chemical reactions in a multilayered organic coating, and it provides a parametrization for the heterogeneous uptake by organic-coated aerosols that can be applied in large-scale models. Moreover, the framework was applied to interpret the findings regarding the decreased uptake of N2O5 by the organic-coated aerosols. Performed calculations suggested that the reaction rate constant of N2O5 in the coating is decreased by 3-5 orders of magnitude, in addition to which the product of the solubility of N2O5 and its diffusion coefficient in the coating is reduced more than an order of magnitude compared to the corresponding value for the aqueous phase. The results suggest also that the accommodation coefficient of N2O5 to such coatings is no more than a factor of 2 smaller than that to pure water surfaces. Finally, the relevance of the results to the atmospheric N2O5 heterogeneous hydrolysis is discussed and implications to planning further laboratory studies focusing on secondary organic aerosol formation are pointed out.     

Visible‐Light‐Driven Water Oxidation with a Polyoxometalate‐Complexed Hematite Core of 275 Iron Atoms

Although metal oxide nanocrystals are often highly active, rapid aggregation (particularly in water) generally precludes detailed solution‐state investigations of their catalytic reactions. This is equally true for visible‐light‐driven water oxidation with hematite α‐Fe₂O₃ nanocrystals, which bridge a conceptual divide between molecular complexes of iron and solid‐state hematite photoanodes. We herein report that the aqueous solubility and remarkable stability of polyoxometalate (POM)‐complexed hematite cores with 275 iron atoms enable investigations of visible‐light‐driven water oxidation at this frontier using the versatile toolbox of solution‐state methods typically reserved for molecular catalysis. The use of these methods revealed a unique mechanism, understood as a general consequence of fundamental differences between reactions of solid‐state metal oxides and freely diffusing “fragments” of the same material.