Iron‐ and Bismuth‐Catalyzed Asymmetric Mukaiyama Aldol Reactions in Aqueous Media

We have developed asymmetric Mukaiyama aldol reactions of silicon enolates with aldehydes catalyzed by chiral Fe^II and Bi^III complexes. Although previous reactions often required relatively harsh conditions, such as strictly anhydrous conditions, very low temperatures (?78 °C), etc., the reactions reported herein proceeded in the presence of water at 0 °C. To find appropriate chiral water‐compatible Lewis acids for the Mukaiyama aldol reaction, many Lewis acids were screened in combination with chiral bipyridine L1 , which had previously been found to be a suitable chiral ligand in aqueous media. Three types of chiral catalysts that consisted of a Fe^II or Bi^III metal salt, a chiral ligand ( L1 ), and an additive have been discovered and a wide variety of substrates (silicon enolates and aldehydes) reacted to afford the desired aldol products in high yields with high diastereo‐ and enantioselectivities through an appropriate selection of one of the three catalytic systems. Mechanistic studies elucidated the coordination environments around the Fe^II and Bi^III centers and the effect of additives on the chiral catalysis. Notably, both Brønsted acids and bases worked as efficient additives in the Fe^II‐catalyzed reactions. The assumed catalytic cycle and transition states indicated important roles of water in these efficient asymmetric Mukaiyama aldol reactions in aqueous media with the broadly applicable and versatile catalytic systems.     

Terephthalic acid derived ligand‐stabilized palladium nanocomposite catalyst for Heck coupling reaction: without surface‐modified heterogeneous catalyst

A new protocol is reported for the synthesis of a heterogeneous palladium nanocomposite stabilized with a terephthalic acid‐derived ligand (N ,N ‐bis(4‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxybenzylidene)terephthalohydrazide). This is a highly insoluble ligand in common organic solvents, except dimethylformamide and dimethylsulfoxide. The resulting palladium nanocomposite acts as an efficient catalyst precursor for Mizoroki–Heck coupling reactions conducted under various reaction conditions. The spectral data suggest that the rate, yield and recycling of the catalyst are more effective for C–C coupling reactions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Oxidation of Organosilanes with Nanoporous Copper as a Sustainable Non‐Noble‐Metal Catalyst

Although many noble‐metal catalysts have been used for the oxidation of organosilanes, there has been less success with non‐noble‐metal catalysts. Here, unsupported nanoporous copper (np‐Cu) is used to catalyze the oxidation of organosilanes under mild conditions. It is the first time that this reaction has been achieved with a heterogeneous copper catalyst with high activity and selectivity. Both water and alcohols are used as oxidants and the corresponding organosilanols and organosilyl ethers are obtained in high yield. The possible mechanism was obtained by kinetic studies. The catalyst could be reused at least five times without evident loss of activity. As a novel green catalyst np‐Cu should play a unique role in organic synthesis.     

V‐N‐C catalysts anchored to mesoporous Al‐SBA‐15 with tailorable pore sizes for the synthesis of spirooxindole dihydroquinazolinones derivatives

Heterogeneous nanoscale catalyst was successfully synthesized via anchoring of V‐bis(2‐aminobenzamide) complex on the Al‐SBA‐15. This modified mesoporous was identified by several characterization techniques, such as X‐ray diffraction, field emission‐scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform‐infrared, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller and transmission electron microscopy. V‐Bis(2‐aminobenzamide)@Al‐SBA‐15 was found to be an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the rapid and desirable synthesis of various spirooxindole dihydroquinazolinones derivatives. In addition, the heterogeneous nanocatalyst was chemically stabilized in organic and aqueous solutions as well as can be expeditiously reused for at least seven cycles without a significant loss in catalytic activity.     

Bis‐Boron Compounds in Catalysis: Bidentate and Bifunctional Activation

The development of metal‐free catalysts as an alternative to the use of transition metals has gained tremendous interest in the past. In catalysis, Lewis acidity is one of the major principles used for the activation of organic compounds. Improving the reactivity and selectivity of Lewis acids by utilizing bidentate interactions was already proposed 50 years ago. Nevertheless, product inhibition due to strong binding has made applications of bidentate Lewis acids challenging for many years. Recently, bis‐boron compounds have been found to be very effective and several applications in Diels–Alder reactions, carbon dioxide reduction, and ammonia‐borane dehydrogenation were reported. All three transformations are enabled by the catalyst at different stages during the course of the reaction. These new and useful examples illustrate the great potential of the concept.     

Calcium‐Based Lewis Acid Catalysts

Recently, Lewis acidic calcium salts bearing weakly coordinating anions such as Ca(NTf₂)₂, Ca(OTf)₂, CaF₂ and Ca[OCH(CF₃)₂]₂ have been discovered as catalysts for the transformation of alcohols, olefins and carbonyl compounds. High stability towards air and moisture, selectivity and high reactivity under mild reaction conditions render these catalysts a sustainable and mild alternative to transition metals, rare‐earth metals or strong Brønsted acids.     

Versatile Oxidation Methods for Organic and Inorganic Substrates Catalyzed by Platinum‐Group Metals on Carbons

Platinum‐group metals on activated carbon catalysts, represented by Pd/C, Ru/C, Rh/C, etc., are widely utilized to accomplish green and sustainable organic reactions due to their favorable features, such as easy handling, recoverability, and reusability. The efficient oxidation methods of various organic compounds using heterogeneous platinum‐group metals on carbons with or without added oxidants are summarized in this Personal Account. The oxidation of internal alkynes into diketones was effectively catalyzed by Pd/C in the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide and molecular oxygen or pyridine N‐oxide. The Pd/C‐catalyzed mild combustion of gaseous hydrogen with molecular oxygen provided hydrogen peroxide, which could be directly utilized for the oxidation of sulfide derivatives into sulfoxides. Furthermore, the Ru/C‐catalyzed aerobic oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols gave the corresponding aldehydes and ketones, respectively. On the other hand, the dehydrogenative oxidation of secondary alcohols into ketones was achieved using Rh/C in water, and primary alcohols were effectively dehydrogenated by Pd/C in water under mildly reduced pressure to produce carboxylic acids.

     

Copper(II)‐Catalyzed Nitroaldol (Henry) Reactions: Recent Developments

Self‐assembled copper(II) complexes are described as effective catalysts for nitroaldol (Henry) reactions on water. The protocol involves a heterogeneous process and the catalysts can be recovered and recycled without loss of activity. Further, C2‐symmetric N,N′‐substituted chiral copper(II) salan complexes are found to be more effective catalysts than chiral copper(II) salen complexes for reactions in homogeneous catalysis, with high enantioselectivities. The reactions involve bifunctional catalysis, bearing the properties of a Brønsted base, as well as a Lewis acid, to effect the reaction in the absence of external additives.     

New entries to water-compatible Lewis acids

Lewis acid catalysis has attracted much attention in organic synthesis as it often affords access to unique reactivity and selectivity under mild conditions. Although various kinds of Lewis acids have been developed and applied in industry, these Lewis acids must be generally used under strictly anhydrous conditions, as the presence of even a small amount of water interferes with the reactions due to preferential reaction of the Lewis acids with water rather than the substrates. In contrast to this, rare earth and other metal complexes have been found to be water-compatible. Furthermore, Bi(OTf)(3)- and Ga(OTf)(3)-basic ligand complexes have also been found to be stable in water, and have been used as water-compatible Lewis acids. This application is particularly significant, as Bi(OTf)(3) and Ga(OTf)(3) themselves are unstable in the presence of water, but are stabilized by the basic ligands. This observation has led to the development of a new approach to Lewis acid catalysis in which Lewis acids that are generally unstable in the presence of water are rendered amenable to aqueous systems when combined with basic ligands. In particular, the use of chiral basic ligands leading to new types of water-compatible chiral Lewis acids may enable a wide range of asymmetric catalysis in aqueous media.     

Triazole‐Containing Dendrimer‐like Core Cross‐Linked Micelles that Stabilize Pd Nanoparticles as Heterogenized Homogeneous Catalysts for Room‐Temperature Suzuki–Miyaura Reactions in Water

Featuring the advantages of both homogeneous (high activity) and heterogeneous (recyclability) catalysts, heterogenized homogeneous catalysts (e.g., dendrimer‐stabilized metal nanoparticles) have received much attention in recent years. Here, we develop a new triazole‐containing dendrimer‐like core cross‐linked micelle (DCCM) stabilized Pd nanoparticles as a highly efficient heterogenized homogeneous catalyst for the Suzuki–Miyaura reaction. Both arylboronic acids and iodobenzenes with diverse electronic properties performed with excellent reactivity under the mild conditions of room temperature, water as the sole solvent, and as low as 0.5 % catalyst loading. Importantly, the Pd@triazole‐DCCMs can tolerate various functional groups well (e.g., alcohol, aldehyde, ester, acyl, amino, and cyano, etc.) and give the corresponding biphenyl products in high yields. Recycling experiments suggest that the new heterogenized homogeneous catalyst can be recovered simply and reused many times with negligible activity change.     

Boron‐Based Catalysts for C−C Bond‐Formation Reactions

Because the construction of the C?C bond is one of the most significant reactions in organic chemistry, the development of an efficient strategy has attracted much attention throughout the synthetic community. Among various protocols to form C?C bonds, organoboron compounds are not just limited to stoichiometric reagents, but have also made great achievements as catalysts because of the easy modification of the electronic and steric impacts on the boron center. This review presents recent developments of boron‐based catalysts applied in the field of C?C bond‐formation reactions, which are classified into four kinds on the basis of the type of boron catalyst: 1) highly Lewis acidic borane, B(C₆F₅)₃; 2) organoboron acids, RB(OH)₂, and their ester derivatives; 3) borenium ions, (R₂BL)X; and 4) other miscellaneous kinds.     

Synthesize,Characterization and Application of Phosphine‐free Polymer Supported Palladium Nanoparticles as Effective Catalyst in Suzuki‐Miyaura Cross‐coupling Reactions

Heterogeneous catalysts were developed by supporting palladium nanoparticles on modified cross‐linked polyacrylamide and successfully applied in Suzuki‐Miyaura cross‐coupling reactions. These catalysts are stable to air and moisture, and no sign of metal leaching was detected during the reactions as judged by elemental analysis of palladium by ICP‐OES technique and hot filtration test, which demonstrates the heterogeneous character of the catalysts. High yields of desired products were resulted by using these phosphine‐free catalysts at temperatures below 80 °C without aid of any additional ligands. The heat stability of the catalysts at the operating temperature was confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). These catalysts are easy to use and cost effective. They can be recovered from reaction mixture by a simple filtration and reused in more successive reactions without significant loss in activity. The catalyst activity was restored by an ultrasonication program after deactivation in 10 cycles.     

Oxidative Mechanochemistry: Direct,Room‐Temperature,Solvent‐Free Conversion of Palladium and Gold Metals into Soluble Salts and Coordination Complexes

Noble metals are valued, critical elements whose chemical activation or recycling is challenging, and traditionally requires high temperatures, strong acids or bases, or aggressive complexation agents. By using elementary palladium and gold, demonstrated here is the use of mechanochemistry for noble‐metal activation and recycling by mild, clean, solvent‐free, and room‐temperature chemistry. The process leads to direct, efficient, one‐pot conversion of the metals, including spent catalysts, into either simple water‐soluble salts or metal–organic catalysts.     

A “Catch‐and‐Release” Protocol for Alkyne‐Tagged Molecules Based on a Resin‐Bound Cobalt Complex for Peptide Enrichment in Aqueous Media

The development of new and mild protocols for the specific enrichment of biomolecules is of significant interest from the perspective of chemical biology. A cobalt–phosphine complex immobilised on a solid‐phase resin has been found to selectively bind to a propargyl carbamate tag, that is, “catch”, under dilute aqueous conditions (pH 7) at 4 °C. Upon acidic treatment of the resulting resin‐bound alkyne–cobalt complex, the Nicholas reaction was induced to “release” the alkyne‐tagged molecule from the resin as a free amine. Model studies revealed that selective enrichment of the alkyne‐tagged molecule could be achieved with high efficiency at 4 °C. The proof‐of‐concept was applied to an alkyne‐tagged amino acid and dipeptide. Studies using an alkyne‐tagged dipeptide proved that this protocol is compatible with various amino acids bearing a range of functionalities in the side‐chain. In addition, selective enrichment and detection of an amine derived from the “catch and release” of an alkyne‐tagged dipeptide in the presence of various peptides has been accomplished under highly dilute conditions, as determined by mass spectrometry.     

Oxidative Mechanochemistry: Direct,Room‐Temperature,Solvent‐Free Conversion of Palladium and Gold Metals into Soluble Salts and Coordination Complexes

Noble metals are valued, critical elements whose chemical activation or recycling is challenging, and traditionally requires high temperatures, strong acids or bases, or aggressive complexation agents. By using elementary palladium and gold, demonstrated here is the use of mechanochemistry for noble‐metal activation and recycling by mild, clean, solvent‐free, and room‐temperature chemistry. The process leads to direct, efficient, one‐pot conversion of the metals, including spent catalysts, into either simple water‐soluble salts or metal–organic catalysts.     

Gold‐Catalyzed Cyclization Processes: Pivotal Avenues for Organic Synthesis

Over the years, gold catalysis has materialized as an incredible synthetic approach among the scientific community. Due to the trivial reaction conditions and great functional compatibility, these progressions are synthetically expedient, because practitioners can implement them to build intricate architectures from readily amassed building blocks with high bond forming indices. The incendiary growth of gold catalysts in organic synthesis has been demonstrated as one of the most prevailing soft Lewis acids for electrophilic activation of carbon‐carbon multiple bonds towards a great assortment of nucleophiles. Nowadays, organic chemists consistently employ gold catalysts to carry out a diverse array of organic transformations to build unprecedented molecular architectures. Despite all these achievements and a plethora of reports, many vital challenges remain. In this account, we describe the reactivity of various gold catalysts towards cyclization processes developed over the years. These protocols give access to a wide scope of polyheterocyclic structures, containing different medium‐sized ring skeletons. This is interesting, as the quest for highly selective reactions to assemble diversely functionalized products has attracted much attention. We envisage that these newly developed chemo‐, regio‐, and diastereoselective protocols could provide an expedient route to architecturally cumbersome heterocycles of importance for the pharmaceutical industry.     

Applications of Selenonium Cations as Lewis Acids in Organocatalytic Reactions

The use of trisubstituted selenonium salts as organic Lewis acids in electrophilic halogenation and aldol‐type reactions has been developed. The substrate scope is broad. The reaction conditions are mild and compatible with various functionalities. This study opens a new avenue for the development of nonmetallic Lewis acid catalysis.     

Eco‐compatible three component strategies for C‐S bond formation in thioether and S‐aryl‐carbamodithioate compounds catalyzed by copper(II) nanoparticles supported on modified AlPO4

One‐pot and three components C‐S bond formation reactions in thioethers and S‐aryl‐carbamodithioates have been catalyzed by a copper heterogeneous nano‐catalyst supported on modified AlPO₄ under different reaction conditions. The above‐mentioned nano‐catalyst has been characterized by various techniques such as SEM, TEM, AFM, XRD, FT‐IR, UV–Vis, CV, BET, TGA, ICP and XPS spectrometry and its particle size was estimated to be between 60–110 nm. Finally, the reusability of the catalyst up to ten cycles without any significant leaching is one of the outstanding properties of the catalyst.     

Oxidative carbonylation of phenol to diphenyl carbonate catalyzed by palladium complexes bridged with N,N‐ligands over functionalized silica

Heterogeneous palladium catalysts anchored on functionalized silica were prepared by sol–gel methods and their catalytic properties for the oxidative carbonylation of phenol to diphenyl carbonate (DPC) were investigated. The catalysts were characterized by means of IR, XPS, EA and BET. The Pd loading in the heterogeneous catalysts and leaching in solution were detected by atomic absorption. The effects of different reaction parameters such as temperature, solvent and inorganic cocatalyst on the yield of DPC and Pd leaching were also studied. It was found that Cu₂O and tetrahydrofuran (THF) were the best partners with these heterogeneous catalysts. In the presence of 3 Å molecular sieves as dehydrating agent, the heterogeneous palladium catalyst prepared from 2‐acylpyridine revealed excellent catalytic performance and stability at 110 °C for 5 h, giving 13.7% yield of DPC based on phenol and 4.0% Pd loss in solution. The heterogeneous catalyst was more active and stable compared with traditional supported Pd? C catalyst under the same reaction conditions. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ligandless heterogeneous palladium: an efficient and recyclable catalyst for Suzuki‐type cross‐coupling reaction

A mild and efficient ligand‐free Suzuki‐type cross‐coupling reaction of benzoyl chlorides and arylboronic acids catalyzed by heterogeneous Pd/C was developed. Benzoyl chlorides undergo cross‐coupling with electronically diverse arylboronic acids to give biaryl ketones in excellent yield, under aqueous media and optimum temperature. The application of 3 mol% of 10 wt% Pd/C to the cross‐coupling delivers utmost efficiency, and could be reused up to many consecutive cycles without any loss in activity. This method proceeds under aqueous media and a recyclable catalytic system, offering an environmentally benign alternative to the existing protocols. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.