One-Pot Direct Oxidation of Primary Amines to Carboxylic Acids through Tandem ortho-Naphthoquinone-Catalyzed and TBHP-Promoted Oxidation Sequence

Biomimetic oxidation of primary amines to carboxylic acids has been developed where the copper-containing amine oxidase (CuAO)-like o-NQ-catalyzed aerobic oxidation was combined with the aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH)-like TBHP-mediated imine oxidation protocol. Notably, the current tandem oxidation strategy provides a new mechanistic insight into the imine intermediate and the seemingly simple TBHP-mediated oxidation pathways of imines. The developed metal-free amine oxidation protocol allows the use of molecular oxygen and TBHP, safe forms of oxidant that may appeal to the industrial application.     

Tandem Coupling of Azide with Isonitrile and Boronic Acid: Facile Access to Functionalized Amidines

Amidine is a notable nitrogen‐containing structural motif found in bioactive natural products and pharmaceuticals. Herein, a novel rhodium(I)‐catalyzed tandem reaction of readily accessible azides with isonitriles and boronic acids via a carbodiimide intermediate is achieved. This protocol offers an alternative approach toward N‐sulfonyl‐, N‐acyl‐, and N‐ phosphoryl‐functionalized, as well as general N‐aryl and N‐alkyl amidines with broad substrate scope. In addition, functionalized guanidines can also been synthesized when amines are used instead. The accomplishment of estrone‐derived amidine and glibenclamide bioisosteres further reveals the practical utility of this strategy.     

Concise Synthesis of Potassium Acyltrifluoroborates from Aldehydes through Copper(I)‐Catalyzed Borylation/Oxidation

Potassium acyltrifluoroborates (KATs) were prepared through copper(I)‐catalyzed borylation of aldehydes and subsequent oxidation. This synthetic route is characterized by the wide range of aldehydes accessible, favorable step economy, mild reaction conditions, and tolerance of various functional groups, and it enables the facile generation of a range of KATs, for example, bearing halide, sulfide, acetal, or ester moieties. Moreover, this method was applied to the three‐step synthesis of various α‐amino acid analogues that bear a KAT moiety on the C‐terminus by using naturally occurring amino acids as the starting material.     

Cyclization of Propargylic Amides: Mild Access to Oxazole Derivatives

The substrate scope, the mechanistic aspects of the gold‐catalyzed oxazole synthesis, and substrates with different aliphatic, aromatic, and functional groups in the side chain were investigated. Even molecules with several propargyl amide groups could easily be converted, delivering di‐ and trioxazoles with interesting optical properties. Furthermore, the scope of the gold(I)‐catalyzed alkylidene synthesis was investigated. Further functionalizations of these isolable intermediates of the oxazole synthesis were developed and chelate ligands can be obtained. The use of Barluenga’s reagent offers a new and mild access to the synthetically valuable iodoalkylideneoxazoles from propargylic amides, this reagent being superior to other sources of halogens.     

Direct Oxidation of Ethene to Acetic Acid

Compared with the chemical processes of naphtha oxidation, n-butane oxidation, methanol carbonylation and acetaldehyde oxidation currently used in the manufacture of acetic acid, direct selective oxidation of ethene to acetic acid is a very attractive process1,2. Uchida et al.3,5 and Denko4 have reported a highly active catalyst system which produces acetic acid with 240 g/h(L of the STY and 86.4% of selectivity. The catalyst system consisted of 2% of Pd by weight, 0.02 of the mole ratio of …     

Silver-Mediated Mild Oxidation of Nitrogen-Containing Heteroaryl-2-methanols to Esters

Oxidation of nitrogen-containing heteroaryl-2-methanols to esters with Ag₂O and isopropyl iodide is reported. This methodology is very mild and can tolerate many functional groups.     

Access to Polysulfides through Photocatalyzed Dithiosulfonylation

In this study, we outline a general method for photocatalyzed difunctionalization of alkenes, a diene, alkynes, 1,3-enynes, and [1.1.1]propellane using dithiosulfonate reagents (ArSO₂-SSR) with improved atom economy. Both “ArSO₂-” and “-SSR” on the dithiosulfonate are transferred under mild conditions with broad substrate scope, high stereoselectivity, and complete regioselectivity. Significantly, the resulting dithiosulfonylated styrene is a general and practical nucleophilic disulfuration reagent, reacting with a variety of electrophiles efficiently. Both reactions can be conducted on gram scale, rendering the approach highly valuable.     

Partial Oxidation of Alcohols to Aldehydes and Ketones Under Mild Conditions

Abstract

A number of aldehydes and ketones were prepared by partial oxidation of alcohols in air catalyzed by RuO₂/ZSM‐5 which can be easily prepared with the industrial grade ZSM‐5 and RuCl₃ · xH₂O.     

Direct Access to β‐Fluorinated Aldehydes by Nitrite‐Modified Wacker Oxidation

An aldehyde‐selective Wacker‐type oxidation of allylic fluorides proceeds with a nitrite catalyst. The method represents a direct route to prepare β‐fluorinated aldehydes. Allylic fluorides bearing a variety of functional groups are transformed in high yield and very high regioselectivity. Additionally, the unpurified aldehyde products serve as versatile intermediates, thus enabling access to a diverse array of fluorinated building blocks. Preliminary mechanistic investigations suggest that inductive effects have a strong influence on the rate and regioselectivity of the oxidation.