Pd-catalyzed cyanation of benzyl chlorides with nontoxic K4[Fe(CN)6]

Non-toxic K₄[Fe(CN)₆] was demonstrated to be effective as a green cyanating agent for the cyanation of alkyl halides using PPh₃/Pd(OAc)₂ as a catalyst system. The presented method allowed a series of benzyl chlorides to be smoothly cyanated in up to 88% yield. In order to avoid or suppress the deactivation of the catalyst, the reaction was required to be performed in a stringent inert ambiance.     

Synthesis of 3-Phenyl and 5-Phenyl-2-pyrrolidinone via Rhodium Catalysed Carbonylation of Allylamines

The Rh₄(CO)₁₂ catalysed reaction with CO and H₂ of 1-phenyl- and 3-phenyl allylamine gives 5-phenyl- and 3-phenyl-2-pyrrolidinone respectively, in good yield. A reasonable reaction pathway of the carbonylation reaction is presented.     

Pyrrolide-imine benzyl complexes of zirconium and hafnium: synthesis, structures, and efficient ethylene polymerization catalysis

A series of pyrrolyl-imines HL^1-6 was prepared by the condensation of pyrrole-2-carboxyaldehyde with different amines. The reaction of 2 equiv of pyrrolyl-imine with tetrabenzyl complexes of hafnium and zirconium M(CH₂Ph)₄ (M=Hf or Zr) gave dibenzyl complexes (L^3-6)₂M(CH₂Ph)₂, which were characterized by NMR spectroscopy and crystal structure analysis. NMR spectra of the complexes with secondary alkyl substituents at the imine nitrogen (isopropyl: 3a, 4-tert-butylcyclohexyl: 4a and 4b) suggest that rapid racemization between Δ and Λ configurations occurs in solution on the NMR time scale. The complexes with pyrrolide-imine ligands with a tertiary alkyl group such as tert-butyl (5a and 5b) or 1-adamantyl (6a and 6b) at the imine nitrogen possess cis-configured benzyl groups. Hafnium complexes 5a and 6a react with B(C₆F₅)₃ in bromobenzene-d₅ to give the corresponding cationic benzyl complexes, which exhibit high activity for ethylene polymerization (5a: 2242 kg-polymer/ mol-Hf h bar, 6a: 2096 kg-polymer/ mol-Hf h bar). Zirconium complexes 5b and 6b display a remarkably high ethylene polymerization activity when activated with methylaluminoxane (5b: 17,952 kg-polymer/mol-Zr h bar, 6b: 22,944 kg-polymer/mol-Zr h bar).     

（TEAH）nH3-nPW12O40催化苯甲醇选择氧化及其反应机理

以Keggin结构的磷钨酸和三乙胺（TEA）为原料,通过简单的酸碱反应合成了磷钨酸的TEA盐.并以它们为催化剂,考察了以H₂O₂为氧化剂、以水为溶剂的体系中苯甲醇选择氧化制备苯甲醛的反应性能.结果表明,（TEAH）_nH_3-nPW₁₂O₄₀（n=1,2,3）系列催化剂对苯甲醇的选择氧化反应有很高的活性和选择性,且可被分离和循环使用.在适宜的反应条件下,最佳催化剂（TEAH）H₂PW₁₂O₄₀上,苯甲醇的转化率可达99.6%,苯甲醛的选择性为100%.还采用IR,³¹PNMR谱和元素分析技术,对催化剂和反应过程中催化剂物种的转化和分布进行了考察,进而导出了反应机理.在这个水--油两相反应中,（PW₁₂O₄₀）^3-首先在H₂O₂的作用下,氧化降解为溶于水的小分子过氧物种（PO₄（WO（O₂）₂）₄）^3-和自由W物种.（PO₄（WO（O₂）₂）₄）^3-是真正的活性物种,可将部份溶于水层的苯甲醇氧化为苯甲醛,自身转变为失去活性氧的反应后物种（SAR）.而SAR又可与自由W物种一起聚合为前驱体状态的（PW₁₂O₄₀）^3-,完成催化循环.     

Synthesis and characterization of cyclopalladated complexes of benzylamine by IR and NMR spectroscopy studies

The chloro-bridged dimer [Pd(μ-Cl)(C₆H₄CH₂NH₂-κ²-C,N)]₂ reacts with PPh₂Et, P(p-tolyl)₃, AsPh₃, piper (piper =?C₅H₁₀N) and Py in dichloromethane at room temperature for 24 h in a one-to-two molar ratio and undergoing bridge-splitting reactions to give [PdCl(C₆H₄CH₂NH₂–κ²-C,N)L] (L =?PPh₂Et (1a), P(p-tolyl)₃ (1b), AsPh₃ (1c), piper (1d), C₆H₄CH₂NH₂ (3e) and Py (1f)). Complex 1f in THF at room temperature reacts with a stoichiometric amount of TlTfO (thallium triflate, TfO=CF₃SO₃) and Py (molar ratio 1 : 1 : 1) to afford [Pd(C₆H₄CH₂NH₂)(Py)₂]TfO (2). Infrared and NMR spectroscopies allow unambiguous characterization of these products.     

Cationic η-benzyl nickel compounds with diphosphine ligands as catalyst precursors for ethylene oligomerization/polymerization: influence of the diphosphine bite angle

The oligomerization and/or polymerization of ethylene catalyzed by the cationic η³-benzylcomplexes [Ni(η³-CH₂C₆H₄-p-CF₃)(P-P)]⁺ BPh₄⁻ (P-P=ⁱPr₂P(CH₂)_nPⁱPr₂, n=1-3) have been studied. The activity of these single component catalysts depends on the length of the (CH₂)_n bridge of the diphosphine ligand. Thus, the dippm derivative (n=1) displays higher activity than compounds of the dippe (n=2) or dippp (n=3) ligands. The molecular weight of the products is also a function of n, and varies in the order dippm > dippe > dippp, with the former two catalysts giving rise to low molecular weight polyethylenes and the latter to oligomers.     

Kinetic Study of the Substitution Reactions of Benzyl Halides and Halide Ions in Acetone

The kinetics of the Finkelstein reactions of benzyl halides and halide ions in dry acetone was studied by using the GC and HPLC methods. The method of conductivity is used to measure the degree of dissociation of alkali halide in acetone. The dissociation of the salt and the common-ion effect were used to correct the halide ion concentration. Let k_xx′- and K_xx′- represent the corrected second-order rate constant and equilibrium constant for the PhCH₂X-X′- reaction, respectively, then at 25° k_xx-?= 1.83x×10^?3 M^?1 s^?1, K_II-=4.48×10⁴, k_Brcl-=0.377 M^?1 s^?1, K_Brcl-=874; and k_Br-=7.88 M^?1 s^?1, K_IBr-=19.2. The entropy of activation is always negative which implies that the activated complex is more solvated than the reactants. There is a good correlation between the enthalpy of activation and the C-X bond energy. The enthalpy of activation is much smaller than the corresponding C-X bond energy which implies that both the bond formation and the bond dissociation are taking place simultaneously in the transition state. A modified Taft equation is used to correlate the Finkelstein reactions of alkyl halides (RCH₂X). However, the benzyl halides can not be fit by the correlation equation due to the strong electrical polar effects. Discussion of the Finkelstein reactions of organic halides in terms of rate constants, equilibrium constants, solvent effects, and the thermodynamic parameters is also presented.     

Use of acetate as a leaving group in palladium-catalyzed nucleophilic substitution of benzylic esters

The palladium complex prepared in situ from [Pd(η³-C₃H₅)(cod)]BF₄ and bidentate phosphine DPPF was a good catalyst for the nucleophilic substitution of benzyl acetate. Significant acceleration of the palladium-catalyzed substitution was observed when an alcohol was employed as a reaction solvent. The palladium catalyst was effective for the benzylation of various stabilized carbanions, amines, and benzenesulfinate with benzylic acetates.     

分子印迹聚合物负载Fe(III)催化剂的底物识别性能

分别以o-, m-和p-硝基苯甲醇与FeCl₃的配合物为模板分子,丙烯酰胺为功能单体,二甲基丙烯酸乙二醇酯为交联剂,采用本体聚合法制备了三种Fe(III)含量相同的分子印迹聚合物(MIP)o-Fe(III)-MIP,m-Fe(III)-MIP和p-Fe(III)-MIP.并采用扫描电镜、N₂吸附-脱附及红外光谱等方法对催化剂结构进行了表征.在以水为溶剂,过氧化氢(30%)为氧化剂的苯甲醇衍生物氧化反应中,该类催化剂表现出优异的催化活性和独特的底物识别性能.当以p-Fe(III)-MIP为催化剂时,p-硝基苯甲醇的转化率达到80%,而在其他两个催化剂上均低于58%.这表明Fe(III)-MIP催化剂结构中具有与底物分子匹配的印迹空腔与识别位点,对底物分子表现出专一识别性,因而提高了催化剂对底物的选择性.     

Synthesis and Structural Characterization of Some Novel Trialkylsilyl‐substituted Lithium Benzyl Complexes [Li(tmeda)][CHRSiMe2R′] (R = Ph, 3,5‐Me2C6H3; R′ = Me,tBu, Ph)

The reactions of PhCH₂SiMe₃ ( 1 ), PhCH₂SiMe₂^tBu ( 2 ), PhCH₂SiMe₂Ph ( 3 ), 3,5‐Me₂C₆H₃CH₂SiMe₃ ( 4 ), and 3,5‐Me₂C₆H₃CH₂SiMe₂^tBu ( 5 ) with ⁿBuLi in tetramethylethylenediamine (tmeda) afford the corresponding lithium complexes [Li(tmeda)][CHRSiMe₂R′] (R, R′ = Ph, Me ( 6 ), Ph, ^tBu ( 7 ), Ph, Ph ( 8 ), 3,5‐Me₂C₆H₃, Me ( 9 ), and 3,5‐Me₂C₆H₃, ^tBu ( 10 )), respectively. The new compounds 5 , 7 , 8 , 9 and 10 have been characterized by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, compounds 7 , 8 and 9 also by X‐ray structure analysis.     

Half-sandwich dibenzyl complexes of scandium: Synthesis, structure, and styrene polymerization activity

Half-sandwich dibenzyl complexes of scandium have been prepared by stepwise treatment of scandium trichloride with lithium derivatives of silyl-functionalized tetramethylcyclopentadienes (C₅Me₄H)SiMe₂R (R = Me, Ph) and benzyl magnesium chloride. The resulting complexes [Sc(η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₃)(CH₂Ph)₂(THF)] and [Sc(η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₂Ph)(CH₂Ph)₂(1,4-dioxane)] show structure related to that of the corresponding bis(trimethylsilylmethyl) compounds [Sc(η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₂R)(CH₂SiMe₃)₂(THF)]. The four-coordinate complexes display η¹-coordinated benzyl ligands without significant interaction of the ipso-carbon of the phenyl moiety. Conversion of [Sc(η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₃)(CH₂Ph)₂(THF)] into the cationic species by treatment with triphenylborane in THF led to the formation of a stable charge separated complex [Sc(η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₃)(CH₂Ph)(THF)_x][BPh₃(CH₂Ph)]. Benzyl cation formed using [Ph₃C][B(C₆F₅)₄] in toluene resulted in a moderately active syndiospecific styrene polymerization catalyst.     

Cannizzaro’s (C7H6)n conundrum resolved: [1.1.1]orthocyclophane was first made 150 years ago

The product of the reaction of benzyl alcohol with a number of Lewis acids was shown by Cannizzaro in 1854 to have the empirical formula (C₇H₆)_n, and this material has been the subject of much controversy for many decades. Its attribution as an isomer of 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexaphenylcyclohexane is shown to be incorrect, and instead it has been identified as 10,15-dihydro-5H-tribenzo[a,d,g]cyclononene, 3, the parent [1.1.1]orthocyclophane, the X-ray crystal structure of which is reported.     

飞秒时间分辨的光电子影像研究氯化苄分子内转换动力学(英文)

结合时间分辨的飞秒光电子影像(TRPEI)技术和时间分辨的质谱技术,研究了氯化苄(BzCl)分子内转换动力学过程.从光电子影像中获得了光电子动能分布和角度分布.氯化苄分子吸收两个400nm的光子后从基态跃迁到S4态和S2态.获得的母体离子随泵浦-探测时间延迟变化的曲线可以用两个指数函数进行拟合,包括一个时间常数为50fs的快速组分和一个时间常数为910fs的慢速组分.通过分析光电子动能分布随延迟时间的变化,我们认为分子被激发到S4态后在很短的时间内与S2态发生耦合迅速弛豫到S2态,然后再经内转换(IC)弛豫到S1态.最初布居的激发态分子经过内转换弛豫到S1态的时间尺度为50fs.910fs的慢速时间组分反映了分子弛豫到S1态后,经内转换向基态S0的弛豫.光电子角度分布的各向异性参数从零时刻的0.87增加到25fs时的0.94,然后逐渐减小到190fs时刻的0.59的现象,也反映了氯化苄分子从S4态耦合到S2态,然后内转换到S1态的动力学过程.     

SmI2/H2O/amine promoted reductive cleavage of benzyl-heteroatom bonds: optimization and mechanism

The SmI₂/H₂O/pyrrolidine mediated cleavage of benzylic alcohols and benzyl groups was studied and found to be a viable alternative to the Birch reduction yielding the corresponding deoxygenated product in excellent yield. The reaction has been investigated by kinetic methods, and a mechanism involving a pre-complexation of the alcohol to SmI₂ followed by an amine mediated electron transfer and subsequent bond cleavage and transfer of a second electron and proton to yield the toluene product has been proposed. The reaction is strongly inhibited at higher concentrations of water, indicating that it proceeds via an inner-sphere electron transfer from samarium(II) to the benzyl group, and excess of water prevents coordination of benzyl alcohol to samarium.     

Palladium Chemistry Related to Benzyl Bromide Carbonylation: Mechanistic Studies

Summary.  Palladium(II) complexes of the general formula PdCl₂ (PR₃)₂ with PR₃ = { P(OPh)₃}, P(O-4-MeC₆H₄)₃, P(O-2-MeC₆H₄)₃, and PPh₂(OBu) were reduced by NEt₃ in chloroform or benzene to Pd(0) complexes Pd(PR₃)₄ and Pd(PR₃)_x(NEt₃) _4−x . The same reaction performed in the presence of air gave CH₃CHO or CH₃CH₂CHO when NPr₃ was used instead of NEt₃. Pd(P(OPh)₃)₄ reacted with benzyl bromide affording the oxidative addition product cis-PdBr(CH₂Ph)(P(OPh)₃)₂. The reaction of PdCl₂(P(OPh)₃)₂ with benzyl bromide was observed only in the presence of NEt₃, and a dimeric complex of [PdBr(CH₂Ph)(P(OPh)₃)]₂ was identified as the reaction product. Both benzyl complexes reacted fast with CO (1 atm) to form acyl complexes exhibiting ν(CO) bands at 1709 and 1650 cm⁻¹.     

Synthesis of [Ni(η-CH2C6H4R-4){PPh(CH2CH2PPh2)2}] (R = H, Me or MeO) and protonation reactions with HCl

The complexes [Ni(η²-CH₂C₆H₄R-4)(triphos)]BPh₄ {R = H, Me or MeO; triphos = PhP(CH₂CH₂PPh₂)₂} have been prepared and characterised by spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. In all cases the coordination geometry of the nickel is best described as square-planar with an η²-benzyl ligand occupying one of the positions. The orientation of the η²-benzyl ligand is dictated by the steric restrictions imposed by the phenyl groups on the triphos ligand, so that the phenyl group on the unique secondary phosphorus and the aromatic group of the benzyl ligand (which are trans to one another) are oriented in the same direction. [Ni(η²-CH₂C₆H₄R-4)(triphos)]⁺ react with an excess of anhydrous HCl in MeCN to form [NiCl(triphos)]⁺ (characterised as the [BPh₄]⁻ salt by X-ray crystallography) and the corresponding substituted toluene. The kinetics of the reaction of all [Ni(η²-CH₂C₆H₄R-4)(triphos)]⁺ and HCl in the presence of Cl⁻ have been determined using stopped-flow spectrophotometry. All reactions exhibit a first-order dependence on the concentration of complex and a first-order dependence on the ratio [HCl]/[Cl⁻]. Varying the 4-R-substituent on the benzyl ligand shows that electron-withdrawing substituents facilitate the rate of the reaction. It is proposed that the mechanism involves initial rapid protonation at the nickel to form [NiH(η²-CH₂C₆H₄R-4)(triphos)]²⁺, followed by intramolecular proton migration from nickel to carbon to yield the products.     

Fluorinated Analogues of Lepidilines A and C: Synthesis and Screening of Their Anticancer and Antiviral Activity

Starting with fluorinated benzylamines, a series of 2-unsubstituted imidazole N-oxides was prepared and subsequently deoxygenated in order to prepare the corresponding imidazoles. The latter were treated with benzyl halides yielding imidazolium salts, which are considered fluorinated analogues of naturally occurring imidazolium alkaloids known as lepidilines A and C. A second series of oxa-lepidiline analogues was obtained by O-benzylation of the initially synthetized imidazole N-oxides. Both series of imidazolium salts were tested as anticancer and antiviral agents. The obtained results demonstrated that the introduction of a fluorine atom, fluoroalkyl or fluoroalkoxy substituents (F, CF₃ or OCF₃) amplifies cytotoxic properties, whereas the cytotoxicity of some fluorinated lepidilines is promising in the context of drug discovery. All studied compounds revealed a lack of antiviral activity against the investigated viruses in the nontoxic concentrations.     

Design of parallel microfluidic gradient-generating networks for studying cellular response to chemical stimuli

A microfluidic chip featuring laminar flow-based parallel gradient-generating networks was designed and fabricated. The microchip contains 5 gradient generators and 30 cell chambers where the resulting concentration gradients of drugs are delivered to stimulate on-chip cultured cells. The microfluidics exploits the advantage of lab-on-a-chip technology by integrating the generation of drug concentration gradients and a series of cell operations including seeding, culture, stimulation and staining into a chip. The microfluidic network was patterned on a glass wafer, which was further bonded to a PDMS film. A series of weir structures were fabricated on the cell culture reservoir to facilitate cell positioning and seeding. Cell injection and fluid delivery were controlled by a syringe pump. Steady parallel concentration gradients were generated by flowing two fluids in each network. Over time observation shows that the microchip was suitable for cell seeding and culture. The microchip described above was applied in studying the role of reduced glutathione (GSH) in mediating chemotherapy sensitivity of MCF-7 cells. MCF-7 cells were treated with concentration gradients of As₂O₃ and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) for GSH modulation, followed by exposure to adriamycin. GSH levels were down-regulated upon As₂O₃ treatment and up-regulated upon NAC treatment. Suppression of intracellular GSH by treatment with As₂O₃ has been shown to increase sensitivity to adriamycin. Conversely, elevation of intracellular GSH by treatment with NAC leads to increased drug resistance. The integrated microfluidic chip is able to perform multiparametric pharmacological profiling with easy operation, and thus holds great potential for extrapolation to the cell based high-content drug screening. __________ Translated from Chinese Journal of Analytical Chemistry, 2008, 36(2): 143–149     

A Low‐dimensional Viologen/Iodoargentate Hybrid [(BV)2­(Ag5I9)]n: Structure,Properties, and Theoretical Study

A new low‐dimensional benzyl viologen/iodoargentate hybrid, [(BV)₂(Ag₅I₉)]_n ( 1 ) (BV²⁺ = benzyl viologen) was prepared. In 1 , (Ag₆I₉)_n^2– chain exhibits a new type of one‐dimensional chain constructed from vertex‐sharing of Ag₅I₁₀ units, and its two‐dimensional layer structure was constructed from C–H ··· I hydrogen bonds. Strong luminescence at 404 nm can be detected in 1 . DFT calculation suggests that 1 displays a reduced bandgap, which is led by a more dispersed LUMO band of BV²⁺ compared with MV²⁺ in [MV(Ag₂I₄)]_n.     

Comparing the catalytic efficiency of ring substituted 1-hydroxybenzotriazoles as laccase mediators

A series of ring substituted 1-hydroxybenzotriazoles (6-X-HBTs) have been tested as mediators in the laccase-promoted oxidation of 4-methoxybenzyl alcohol, 3,4-dimethoxybenzyl alcohol, and the dimeric lignin model 1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-phenoxyethanol. The effect of the aryl substituents on the yields of oxidation products is remarkable. The catalytic mediation efficiency increases as the electron releasing (ER) properties of the substituent increases up to a maximum value for 6-CH₃-HBT, which resulted a very efficient mediator. Both the oxidation of the 6-X-HBTs to the N-oxyl radicals (6-X-BTNO) by laccase and the hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) process from the benzylic C–H to the 6-X-BTNO contribute to the overall reactivity. The former process is favored by ER substituents that lower the mediator redox potentials. On the other hand, ER substituents decrease the 6-X-BTNO reactivity in the HAT process due to a decrease in the NO–H BDE value, as assessed in this study through a radical equilibration technique.