The Generation of Difluoroketenimine and Its Application in the Synthesis of α,α‐Difluoro‐β‐amino Amides

Fluorine‐containing β‐amino acids and their derivatives have attracted significant attention due to their importance in life sciences. Herein the previously unknown difluoroketenimine, the analogue of the elusive difluoroketene, has been generated by the reaction of difluorocarbene and isocyanide, which further undergoes [2+2] cycloaddition with imine. The three‐component reaction affords α,α‐difluoro‐β‐amino amides in good yields. Mechanistic studies reveal the unique properties of the difluoroketenimine in the [2+2] cycloaddition with imine.     

Intermediates Formed in the Reactions of Organocuprates with α,β‐Unsaturated Nitriles

Conjugate additions of organocuprates are of outstanding importance for organic synthesis. To improve our mechanistic understanding of these reactions, we have used electrospray ionization mass spectrometry for the identification of the ionic intermediates formed upon the treatment of LiCuR₂ ? LiCN (R=Me, Bu, Ph) with a series of α,β‐unsaturated nitriles. Acrylonitrile, the weakest Michael acceptor included, did not afford any detectable intermediates. Fumaronitrile (FN) yielded adducts of the type Li_n?1Cu_nR_2n(FN)_n^?, n=1–3. When subjected to fragmentation in the gas phase, these adducts were not converted into the conjugate addition products, but re‐dissociated into the reactants. In contrast, the reaction with 1,1‐dicyanoethylene furnished the products of the conjugate addition without any observable intermediates. Tri‐ and tetracyanoethylene proved to be quite reactive as well. The presence of several cyano groups in these substrates opened up reaction pathways different from simple conjugate additions, however, and led to dimerization and substitution reactions. Moreover, the gas‐phase fragmentation behavior of the species formed from these substrates indicated the occurrence of single‐electron transfer processes. Additional quantum‐chemical calculations provided insight into the structures and stabilities of the observed intermediates and their consecutive reactions.     

α,α‐Dibromotoluene as a monomer for poly (substituted methylene) synthesis: Magnesium‐mediated polycondensation of α,α‐dibromotoluene and magnesium/copper‐mediated copolycondensation of α,α‐dibromotoluene with 1,6‐dibromohexane

α,α‐Dibromotoluene 1 was found to be polymerized by the reaction with excess Mg to give poly(phenylmethylene)s 2 , whose main chains were partially dehydrogenated to carbon–carbon double bonds (C?C). The C?Cs in 2 can be brominated by treatment with Br₂. The polymerization mechanism was presumed to include the formation of Grignard reagents of various species with benzylic C? Br bonds and the nucleophilic attacks of the Grignard reagents to various compounds with benzylic C? Br bonds. Copolymerization of 1 with dichlorodimethylsilane successfully proceeded. Mg/Cu‐mediated copolycondensation of 1 with 1,6‐dibromohexane proceeded to give polymers that have similar compositions to those of random copolymers of ethylene and styrene. © 2006Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5661–5671, 2006     

N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Catalyzed Synthesis of δ‐Sultones via α,β‐Unsaturated Sulfonyl Azolium Intermediates

A limited array of reactive intermediates have enabled a wealth of discoveries in N‐heterocyclic carbene organocatalysis. In this study, the viability of α,β‐unsaturated sulfonyl azoliums as double electrophiles in new reactions is examined. Specifically, the (3+3) annulation of such species with the trimethylsilyl enol ethers of various 1,3‐dicarbonyl compounds has been developed. This reaction provides access to a range of novel unsaturated δ‐sultones (18 examples) in good yields (40–88 %) under mild reaction conditions. Mechanistic studies and the development of an enantioselective variant (55 % yield, 73:27 e.r.) support the intermediacy of an α,β‐unsaturated sulfonyl azolium species.     

5-雄烯-3β, 7α, 17β-三醇和5-雄烯-3β, 7β, 17β-三醇的合成

以5-雄烯二醇为原料,用微生物转化的方法合成了两个重要的神经甾体5-雄烯-3β, 7α, 17β-三醇和5-雄烯-3β, 7β, 17β-三醇。所用菌种总枝毛霉为我们自己筛选,并首次应用于5-雄烯-3β, 7α, 17β-三醇和5-雄烯-3β, 7β, 17β-三醇的合成中。     

Comparison of Methionine α,γ‐Lyase and Homocysteine α,γ‐Lyase for Electrochemical Determination of Homocysteine

Recently, a novel enzymatic method was developed for determination of homocysteine. This method utilizes the electrochemical hydrogen sulfide sensor along with methionine α,γ‐lyase to accomplish the fast, accurate, sensitive and selective measurements. As a continuation of this work, another enzyme, homocysteine α,γ‐lyase, was used and the parallel experiments of using both enzymes were carried out against the effect of pH, sensitivity, linearity, and interferences, in an intended comparison between these two enzymes. The excellent linearity of amperometric currents against homocysteine concentrations, high sensitivities and low detection limits for both enzymes reconfirmed that the electrochemical method is superior over other analytical means. The high enzymatic activity of methionine α,γ‐lyase surpassing homocysteine α,γ‐lyase endowed the former higher sensitivity, lower detection limit and faster response than the latter, suggesting methionine α,γ‐lyase a better candidate for homocysteine measurement by electrochemical method. The differences between these two enzymes on the trends of response time and sensitivity at different pH environments, reactivity toward several forms of homocysteine as well as on the interference from several agents were also addressed and discussed.     

Differentiation of Boc‐protected α,δ‐/δ,α‐ and β,δ‐/δ,β‐hybrid peptide positional isomers by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry

Two new series of Boc‐N‐α,δ‐/δ,α‐ and β,δ‐/δ,β‐hybrid peptides containing repeats of L ‐Ala‐δ⁵‐Caa/δ⁵‐Caa‐L ‐Ala and β³‐Caa‐δ⁵‐Caa/δ⁵‐Caa‐β³‐Caa (L ‐Ala = L ‐alanine, Caa = C‐linked carbo amino acid derived from D ‐xylose) have been differentiated by both positive and negative ion electrospray ionization (ESI) ion trap tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). MSⁿ spectra of protonated isomeric peptides produce characteristic fragmentation involving the peptide backbone, the Boc‐group, and the side chain. The dipeptide positional isomers are differentiated by the collision‐induced dissociation (CID) of the protonated peptides. The loss of 2‐methylprop‐1‐ene is more pronounced for Boc‐NH‐L ‐Ala‐δ‐Caa‐OCH₃ (1), whereas it is totally absent for its positional isomer Boc‐NH‐δ‐Caa‐L ‐Ala‐OCH₃ (7), instead it shows significant loss of t‐butanol. On the other hand, second isomeric pair shows significant loss of t‐butanol and loss of acetone for Boc‐NH‐δ‐Caa‐β‐Caa‐OCH₃ (18), whereas these are insignificant for its positional isomer Boc‐NH‐β‐Caa‐δ‐Caa‐OCH₃ (13). The tetra‐ and hexapeptide positional isomers also show significant differences in MS² and MS³ CID spectra. It is observed that ‘b’ ions are abundant when oxazolone structures are formed through five‐membered cyclic transition state and cyclization process for larger ‘b’ ions led to its insignificant abundance. However, b₁⁺ ion is formed in case of δ,α‐dipeptide that may have a six‐membered substituted piperidone ion structure. Furthermore, ESI negative ion MS/MS has also been found to be useful for differentiating these isomeric peptide acids. Thus, the results of MS/MS of pairs of di‐, tetra‐, and hexapeptide positional isomers provide peptide sequencing information and distinguish the positional isomers. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.