Chiral 1,2‐diols have been prepared from α‐aminoxylated aldehydes or cyclohexanone and Grignard reagents with L ‐proline or its tetrazole derivative as the catalyst. The presence of the ate complex of CeCl3?2 LiCl is essential for the high overall yields and good selectivities (see scheme; DMSO=dimethyl sulfoxide, THF=tetrahydrofuran, Tol=tolyl).
Naheliegende Alternative : Eine eisenkatalysierte Imin‐gesteuerte C‐H‐Aktivierung mit einem Diarylzinkreagens führt eine Arylgruppe in ortho‐Stellung an einem von Acetophenon abgeleiteten Imin ein (siehe Schema); mit einem Palladiumkatalysator tritt dagegen eine gewöhnliche Substitution auf. Die Titelreaktion ist eine milde C‐H‐Aktivierung, die in Gegenwart von 1,2‐Dichlorisobutan mit Arylbromiden, ‐chloriden oder ‐sulfonaten selektiv verläuft.
Synergy in synthesis : Strategic consideration of metathesis and Suzuki–Miyaura (SM) cross‐coupling for C? C bond‐formation processes has opened up new and “green” synthetic routes to various complex targets. The use of this synergistic combination for the synthesis of supramolecular ligands, polyaromatic compounds, and complex natural products is covered in this Focus Review.
Shine your light : Recent work in photocrystallography demonstrates a large photoinduced increase in the magnetic susceptibility of a solid, which is accompanied by significant changes in the bond lengths of the Nd? NC? Fe moiety (see picture; black are ground‐state bond lengths in Å, red are photoinduced bond lengths).
Inner virtue : The reaction of [Mo0(GaCp*)6] with ZnMe2 yields the novel multinuclear zinc system [MoZn12Me9Cp*3] which geometrically resembles a classical Wade–Mingos cluster (with an interstitial molybdenum atom, see picture). In reality, its electronic structure features little direct Zn? Zn bonding, relying instead on Mo? Zn three‐center, two‐electron bonds spanning the body diagonals of the approximately icosahedral framework.
Unstable? We're able! 1,n‐Glycols serve as synthetic equivalents to unstable dialdehydes in two‐directional carbonyl allylation from the alcohol oxidation level under iridium‐catalyzed transfer hydrogenation conditions. Iterative asymmetric allylation employing 1,3‐propanediol enables the rapid assembly of protected 1,3‐polyol substructures with exceptional levels of stereocontrol.
“The most exciting thing about my research is to create new molecules and new concepts. When I was eighteen I wanted to be an industrial chemist. …?” This and more about Koop Lammertsma can be found on page 4670.
All wrapped up : The reaction of a 22‐membered macrocycle derived from bis(o‐formylphenyl)mercury and 1,2‐phenylenediamine with palladium(II) results in cleavage of the macrocycle and concomitant formation of a trimetallic complex (see picture; phenyl rings truncated for clarity). The nature of the HgII???PdII???HgII interaction was investigated by theoretical studies.
Let the dominos fall : Synthesis of the complex DFGH ring system of the title compounds has been accomplished. The approach features simple treatment of the key intermediate with a Brønsted base to afford the tetracyclic cage‐shaped target in one pot through a four‐step domino transformation (see scheme; Mc= monochloromesylate, MOM=methoxymethyl).
Excellent couplings : Recent developments in the metal‐catalyzed C? H activation of sp3 centers in an α position relative to an amine nitrogen atom are presented. Their reaction with alkenes to give alkylamines (hydroaminoalkylation) is also summarized (see general scheme).
Preferred protonation : Does electrospray ionization mass spectrometry produce gas‐phase or liquid‐phase structures? The preferred protonation site in p‐aminobenzoic acid depends upon the medium, and the structure of its conjugate acid varies with the solvent used during spraying.
The synthesis of poly(β‐alanine) by Candida antarctica lipase B immobilized as novozyme 435 catalyzed ring‐opening of 2‐azetidinone is reported. After removal of cyclic side products and low molecular weight species pure linear poly(β‐alanine) is obtained. The formation of the polymer is confirmed with 1H NMR spectroscopy and MALDI‐TOF mass spectrometry. The average degree of polymerization of the obtained polymer is limited to = 8 by its solubility in the reaction medium. Control experiments with β‐alanine as a substrate confirmed that the ring structure of the 2‐azetidinone is necessary to obtain the polymer.
Ein Phosphoranalogon des Komplexes Bis(η4‐cyclobutadien)eisen(0) wird von K. Lammertsma et al. in ihrer Zuschrift auf S. 3150 ff. vorgestellt. Im Hintergrund des Titelbilds posiert John Montagu (1718–1792), 4th Earl of Sandwich und Erster Lord der Admiralität, der es sich sicherlich nicht hätte träumen lassen, dass eines Tages eine wichtige Klasse von Organometallverbindungen nach ihm benannt werden würde. Die Synthese von [Fe(P2C2tBu2)2] belegt, dass die Sandwich‐Komplexe immer noch ein aktuelles Forschungsgebiet sind.
Two kinds of representative polymers, poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) and β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD) were selected and modified with azide and alkyne fucntional groups, respectively. When the solutions of these two modified polymers were mixed together, a cross‐linking reaction, a type of Huisgen's 1,3‐dipolar azide‐alkyne cycloaddition, occurred in the presence of Cu(I) catalyst. The strategy described here provides several advantages for the hydrogel formation including mild reaction conditions and controllable gelation rate. The resulted hydrogels were studied in terms of scanning electric microscopy (SEM), equilibrium swelling ratio and swelling/shrinking kinetics. The data obtained demonstrated the hydrogels had a porous structure as well as favorable thermosensitivity.
How are dihydropyridines like indoles? Both groups of compounds have similar nucleophilicity parameters N and are therefore suitable substrates for iminium‐catalyzed reactions of α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes. The N parameters of 1,4‐dihydropyridines were derived from the rates of hydride transfer reactions to benzhydrylium ions (see scheme).
Sweets for my sweet ! Efficient synthesis of the deoxysugar part of versipelostatin (VST) was achieved by direct and stereoselective glycosidation of the reduced VST aglycon. Comparison of the synthetic and natural VST products using NMR indicate that VST has a β‐d‐digitoxose‐(1,4)‐α‐l‐oleandrose‐(1,4)‐β‐d‐digitoxose trisaccharide. A biological assay indicates that the deoxyoligosaccharide unit of the synthetic glycoside is important for biological activity.
Sleeping beauty? Is the scientific community about to kiss awake iron catalysis, a topic that has been dormant for decades? A recent study on a user‐friendly direct cross‐coupling reaction of alkyl and aryl halides constitutes an important step toward this end through the integration of two different iron‐catalyzed elementary steps into a practical one‐pot procedure.
Additional cyclization : Dicyanonitrosomethanide, [C(CN)2(NO)]? undergoes nucleophilic addition and cyclization of 1,2‐diaminoethane and 1,3‐diaminopropane on the nitrile groups to form imidazolinyl and 1,4,5,6‐tetrahydropyrimidinyl groups, respectively. Ethanolamine has lower reactivity and fails to cyclize.
