Ni-nanoparticles: an efficient green catalyst for chemoselective reduction of aldehydes

A novel method for reduction of aromatic and heteroaromatic aldehydes with ammonium formate using Ni-nanoparticles is described. The Ni-nanoparticles act as a green catalyst for selective reduction of the aldehydic group in the presence of other functional groups, viz.: -NO₂, -CN and alkenes to give the corresponding alcohols in excellent yields.     

Reductive coupling reaction of aldehydes using indium(III) triflate as the catalyst

A reductive coupling reaction was effectively developed to convert an aldehyde to its symmetrical ether. The successful reactions required Et₃SiH and CH₂Cl₂ as the suitable solvent in the presence of a catalytic amount of In(OTf)₃. Various aldehydes were subjected to the method, and each afforded the expected ethers in good to excellent yields.     

Direct Aminophosphonylation of aldehydes catalyzed by cyclopentadienyl ruthenium(II) complexes

This work reports a novel method for the direct aminophosphonylation of aldehydes catalyzed by cyclopentadienyl ruthenium(II) complexes. The system HP(O)(OEt)₂/[CpRu(PPh₃)₂Cl] was very efficient for the aminophosphonylation of aldehydes with primary and secondary amines, producing the corresponding α-aminophosphonates in good to excellent yields. This novel method has several advantages including the use of a small amount of catalyst (0.5?mol%), high chemoselectivity, solvent-free conditions and application of the catalyst [CpRu(PPh₃)₂Cl] for at least 12 cycles with excellent activity.     

Solid silica sulfuric acid (SSA) as a novel and efficient catalyst for acetylation of aldehydes and sugars

Acetylation of aldehydes and sugars catalyzed by solid silica sulfuric acid (SSA) is described. In these reactions SSA shows a highly catalytic nature: easy to handle procedure, short reaction time, recycle exploitation, insensitivity to air and moisture, excellent isolated yields. The catalyst could be recycled at least five times.     

Electrochemical nanogravimetric study on the ruthenium(III) trichloride–polyaniline nanocomposite

Ruthenium(III) trichloride microcrystals were soaked in aniline and aniline/acetonitrile mixtures. In all cases, polyaniline (PANI) was formed as a result of the intercalation of aniline into the layered structure of RuCl₃ crystal and the reaction between aniline and the host material. The appearance of polyaniline was proven by infrared spectroscopy. The as-formed (PANI) _x ^z+(RuCl₃) _y ^z− nanocomposites were attached to gold surfaces and studied by cyclic electrochemical nanogravimetry. The sorption of aniline and its effect on the nanocomposites immobilized on gold were also studied in supporting electrolytes. The redox behaviour of the composite shows the electrochemical transformations of both polyaniline and RuCl₃. The redox waves of PANI are similar to those observed for very thin PANI films. It attests that the response is originated from monolayer-like PANI film situated between RuCl₃ layers. The transport of the charge-compensating ions reflects the variation of the oxidation states of both PANI and RuCl₃. The nanocomposites behave as self-doped layers in the potential region when both constituents are charged, i.e. PANI is partially oxidized while RuCl₃ is partially reduced, since the electroneutrality is assured by mutual charge compensation. When PANI is reduced, cations enter the layer to counterbalance the negative charge resulting from the reduction of Ru(III) to Ru(II). It was also found that the intercalation of water molecules is—albeit still substantial—smaller than that of pure RuCl₃ microcrystals, which is related to the presence of PANI between the RuCl₃ layers. Dedicated to Prof. Mikhail A. Vorotyntsev on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

A mild and efficient method for the chemoselective deprotection of acetonides with lanthanum(III) nitrate hexahydrate

Acetonides are hydrolyzed selectively and efficiently with lanthanum(III) nitrate hexahydrate in acetonitrile. The method has good compatibility with other sensitive hydroxyl protecting groups such as trityl, TBDMS, THP, OAc, OBz and OBn.     

Electrochemically induced transformations of ruthenium(III) trichloride microcrystals in salt solutions

Ruthenium (III) trichlorid solid crystals have been mechanically attached to gold surfaces and studied by cyclic electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance measurements in the presence of aqueous solutions of different concentrations containing M⁺Cl⁻, where M⁺=H⁺, Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺, Cs⁺. The RuCl₃ and the complexes formed during the electrochemical transformations show two or more reduction and reoxidation pairs of waves, depending on the experimental conditions (concentration, scan rate, and potential range). The voltammetric peaks are shifted into the direction of higher potentials with increasing electrolyte concentrations except at very high concentrations when the peaks belong to the first reduction/reoxidation processes move oppositely. The mass change was reversible, during reduction mass increase, while during oxidation mass decrease occurred at medium electrolyte concentrations in two, more or less distinct steps. At high or low concentrations the mass excursions are more complex involving different mass increase/decrease regions as a function of potential which vary with the potential range of the measurements. The peak potentials and the electrochemical activity strongly depend on the nature of the cations and pH. It is related to the formation of complexes in different compositions. The mass change decreases with increasing electrolyte concentrations attesting the important role of the water activity and the transport of solvent molecules. It was concluded that in dilute solutions during the first reduction step M⁺ ions enter the surface layer. The strongly hydrated Li⁺ ions transfer water molecules into the microcrystals, while simultaneously with the incorporation of K⁺, Rb⁺, and Cs⁺ ions H₂O molecules leave the surface layer. The opposite transport of ions and solvent molecules occur during oxidation. In the course of further reduction the incorporation of all ions studied except that of Cs⁺ ions is accompanied with water sorption. The number of sorbed water molecules is proportional to the hydration number of these ions. A reaction scheme is proposed in which M⁺ _m-3[Ru^IIICl _m (H₂O) _n ]^3-m · xH₂O (m≥3) and [Ru^IIICl _m (H₂O) _n ]^3-m (Cl⁻)_3-m · xH₂O (m≤3) type complexes are reduced to the respective – or depending on the electrolyte concentration higher or lower – Ru(II)chloro complexes resulting in mixed valence compounds (phases). Taking into account the layered structure of RuCl₃ the electrochemical reduction can be explained as an intercalation reaction in that mixed valence intercalation phases with a general formula M _x ⁺(H₂O) _y [RuCl₃] ^x− are formed from RuCl₃·x H₂O. The reduction/reoxidation waves are related to the redox transformations of Ru(III) to Ru(II) sites, while the composition of the polynuclear complexes and the structure of microcrystals change. Presented at the 4th Baltic Conference on Electrochemistry, Greifswald, March 13.−16., 2005.     

Copper(II) tetrafluoroborate as a novel and highly efficient catalyst for acetal formation

Commercially available copper(II) tetrafluoroborate hydrate has been found to be a highly efficient catalyst for dimethyl/diethyl acetal formation in high yields from aldehydes and ketones by reaction with trimethyl/triethyl orthoformate at room temperature and in short period. Acetalisation was carried out under solvent-free conditions with electrophilic aldehydes/ketones. For weakly electrophilic aldehydes/ketones (e.g., benzaldehyde, cinnamaldehyde and acetophenone) and for aldehydes having a substituent that can coordinate with the catalyst, the corresponding alcohol was used as solvent.     

An efficient method for the oxathioacetalization of carbonyl compounds using N-bromosaccharin as a catalyst

A mild and highly chemoselective method for the preparation of oxathiolane from aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes and ketones with 2-mercaptoethanol in the presence of catalytic amount of N-bromosaccharin at room temperature is reported.     

Cationic nitridoruthenium(VI) catalyzed hydrosilylation of ketones and aldehydes

The first example of a ruthenium nitrido compound as hydrosilylation catalyst is described, using phenylsilane as reductant. A variety of ketones and aldehydes are reduced to alcohols with good to high isolated yields. Some mechanistic insight on this new system is provided on the basis of the available experimental findings.     

An efficient method for the synthesis of acylals from aldehydes using silica-supported perchloric acid (HClO4-SiO2)

The synthesis of acylals from structurally diverse aldehydes has been performed in excellent yields under solvent-free conditions using HClO₄-SiO₂ as a mild, convenient, reusable, and heterogeneous catalyst. The procedure is operationally simple, environmentally benign and has the advantage of enhanced atom utilization. Furthermore, the catalyst can be recovered simply and reused efficiently a number of times without appreciable loss of activity.     

A ruthenium-catalyzed one-pot method for α-alkylation of ketones with aldehydes

Ketones react with an array of aldehydes in dioxane at 80 °C in the presence of a catalytic amount of RuCl₂(PPh₃)₃ along with KOH to give the corresponding α-alkylated ketones in moderate to good yields. A reaction pathway involving base-catalyzed cross-aldol reaction between ketones and aldehydes to form α,β-unsaturated ketones and regioselective reduction of carbon-carbon double bond of α,β-unsaturated ketones is proposed for this catalytic process.     

A SeCSe-Pd(II) pincer complex as a highly efficient catalyst for allylation of aldehydes with allyltributyltin

An air- and moisture-stable SeCSe-Pd(II) pincer complex was synthesized and found to catalyze the nucleophilic allylation of aldehydes with allyltributyltin. The allylation of a variety of aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes to give the corresponding homoallyl alcohols was performed at room temperature to 60 degrees C in yields ranging from 50% (for typical aliphatic aldehydes) to up to 97% (for aromatic aldehydes) using 5 x 10(-3) to 1 mol % of the Pd catalyst. NMR spectroscopic study indicated that a sigma-allylpalladium intermediate was formed and possibly functions as the nucleophilic species that undergoes addition to the aldehydes.     

聚乙烯基吡啶高氯酸盐作为高效固体酸催化剂在无溶剂条件下催化醛化学选择性制备二乙酸盐简

Poly(4-vinylpyridinium) perchlorate has been used as a supported, recyclable, environmentally-benign catalyst for the formation of acylals from aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes in good to excellent yields under solvent-free conditions. Notably, the reaction conditions were tolerant of ketones. This methodology offers several distinct advantages, including its operational simplicity and high product yield, as well as being green in terms of avoiding the use of toxic catalysts and solvents. Furthermore, the catalyst can be recovered and reused several times without any loss in its activity.     

Orthoplatinated triarylphosphite as a highly efficient catalyst for addition reactions of arylboronic acids with aldehydes: low catalyst loading catalysis and a new tandem reaction sequence

Readily available, air/moisture-stable orthoplatinated triarylphosphite catalyzes the addition reactions of arylboronic acids with aldehydes with the catalyst loading as low as 0.01%. It also cataylzes a new tandem reaction of arylboronic acids with alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes to form 1,3-diaryl-1-propanols. Our study provides a new paradigm for the application of orthoplatinated triarylphosphites, and may pave the road to develop other Pt(II) catalysts for such addition reactions and other tandem reactions with such addition reactions as part of the reaction sequence.     

Catalyst-free,efficient and one pot protocol for synthesis of nitriles from aldehydes using glycerol as green solvent

We described herein the novel, efficient and one-pot catalyst free protocol for the synthesis of nitriles from aldehydes by using hydroxyl amine hydrochlorides in glycerol as a green solvent. This protocol was efficiently used for transformation of aromatic aldehydes bearing electron-withdrawing and electron-donating groups into a aryl nitriles in good to excellent yields. The methodology offers a very simple, efficient and environmentally benign procedure.     

A simple and convenient procedure for the synthesis of 1-aminophosphonates from aromatic aldehydes

A simple, efficient, possible industrial process has been developed for the synthesis of 1-aminophosphonic acids from simple starting materials. As described below, treatment of aromatic aldehydes with ammonia and reaction with diethyl phosphite gives diethyl N-(arylmethylene)-1-aminoaryl methylphosphonates, which can be easily hydrolyzed to diethyl 1-aminoarylmethylphosphonates. This method is easy, rapid, and good yielding for the synthesis of 1-aminoalkylphosphonates from simple starting materials.     

Lanthanum trichloride: An efficient catalyst for the silylation of hydroxyl groups by activating hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS)

A variety of hydroxy functional groups was protected as their corresponding trimethylsilyl ethers using HMDS in the presence of lanthanum trichloride. The catalyst LaCl₃ activates the HMDS and accelerates the reaction under mild reaction conditions at room temperature to afford the corresponding silylated products in excellent yields.     

A novel method for the synthesis of tetrahydrobenzo[a]-xanthen-11-one derivatives using cerium(III) chloride as a highly efficient catalyst

Cerium(III) chloride is found to be an highly efficient catalyst for the addition of aldehydes, β-naphthol and cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds/Meldrum's acid via a multicomponent reaction. The easy availability of starting materials, novel and eco-friendly procedure makes this strategy more useful for the preparation of tetrahydrobenzo[a]-xanthen-11-one, and benzo[f]chromen-3-one derivatives.     

A mild, efficient and environmentally friendly method for the regio- and chemoselective synthesis of enaminones using Bi(TFA)3 as a reusable catalyst in aqueous media

Bismuth(III) trifluoroacetate has been found to be an extremely efficient catalyst for the preparation of β-enaminones in water. In addition, by employing this catalyst, high regio- and chemoselective enamination of carbonyl compounds was achieved.