Solar radiation-assisted one-pot synthesis of 3-alkylated indoles under catalyst-free conditions

Solar radiation-assisted green approach was developed for the chemoselective synthesis of 3-alkylated indoles via Yonemitsu-type condensation under catalyst-free conditions. The desired products were formed by one-pot three-component reaction of indole, aromatic aldehydes, and β-dicarbonyl compounds in polyethylene glycol-400 (PEG-400). The scope and generality of the presented approach were extended by various aromatic aldehydes and CH activated compounds. Using non-volatile solvent and renewable energy resources, absence of any catalyst, energy conservation, and the selective production of heterodimer product instead of homodimer adducts such as bisindole or xanthine, increase the economic and environmental effectiveness of the present protocol.     

Cobalt-catalyzed hydrocyanation and hydroarylation of enamines

A mild, general and efficient hydrocyanation and hydroarylation of enamines catalyzed by Co(salen) complexes are described. Both reactions include regioselective CH bond formation of enamines, and the corresponding products are obtained in high yield. Hydroarylation critically discriminates the benzyl and benzoyl aromatic rings on nitrogen in cyclization step, and the corresponding isoindolinones including quaternary carbons are exclusively given.     

Sulfonium ylide formation and subsequent CS bond cleavage of aromatic isopropyl sulfide catalyzed by hemin in aqueous solvent

Heme is an abundant and widely existed cofactor for a variety of metalloenzymes, whose broader use is generally impeded by its high instability and poor solubility. Here we report an environment-benign and efficient strategy for the sulfonium ylide formation and subsequent CS bond cleavage of aromatic isopropyl sulfides, which was catalyzed by hemin in assistance of Triton X-100. This aqueous catalytic system exhibited good functional group tolerance to a variety of sulfides and diazo esters. And the reaction mechanism was preliminarily proposed on the basis of designed reactions. Furthermore, the cleavage of CS bond followed by introducing a functional ester group to aromatic sulfides, may potentially be employed for the late stage functionalization (LSF) of organosulfur drug in the future.     

Palladium-catalyzed enantioselective carbonylation reactions

Carbonylation,one of the most powerful approaches to the preparation of carbonylated compounds,has received significant attention from researchers active in various fields.Indeed,impressive progress has been made on this subject over the past few decades.Among the various types of carbonylation reactions,asymmetric carbonylation is a straightforward methodology for constructing chiral compounds.Although rhodium-catalyzed enantioselective hydroformylations have been discussed in several elegant reviews,a general review on palladium-catalyzed asymmetric carbonylations is still missing.In this review,we summarize and discuss recent achievements in palladium-catalyzed asymmetric carbonylation reactions.Notably,this review’s contents are categorized by reaction type.     

Understanding the reactivity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and related compounds

This perspective article summarizes recent applications of the combination of the activation strain model of reactivity and the energy decomposition analysis methods to the study of the reactivity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and related compounds such as cycloparaphenylenes, fullerenes and doped systems. To this end, we have selected representative examples to highlight the usefulness of this relatively novel computational approach to gain quantitative insight into the factors controlling the so far not fully understood reactivity of these species. Issues such as the influence of the size and curvature of the system on the reactivity are covered herein, which is crucial for the rational design of novel compounds with tuneable applications in different fields such as materials science or medicinal chemistry.

This perspective article summarizes recent applications of the combined activation strain model of reactivity and the energy decomposition analysis methods to the study of the reactivity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and related compounds.     

2,3-Dichloroquinoxaline as a versatile building block for heteroaromatic nucleophilic substitution: A review of the last decade

Nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) is a class of reaction that has become very important over time. This type of transformation usually proceeds without the use of metal catalysts, making it very important for pharmaceutical and industrial purposes. Nevertheless, in order to obtain the desired substituted product, activated substrates are required to allow SNAr reactions under mild conditions. In this context, quinoxaline derivatives are one class of N-heteroarenes that has attracted great attention from the scientific community because of the large variety of applications for their derivatives in many fields, such as biological and technological areas. There are several reported methods for the synthesis of quinoxaline derivatives. Nonetheless, reactions of 2,3-dichloroquinoxaline (DCQX) with nucleophilic species has become a viable alternative because of the possibility to form new carbon-heteroatom bonds (e.g. CO, CN, and CS) directly at C2 and/or C3 positions of the quinoxaline moiety. This current review brings an overview of the last decade on the remarkable versatility of DCQX as a substrate for SNAr reactions. Herein, we show several examples in which DCQX reacts with N-, O-, S-, P- and C-nucleophiles, including controlled processes for the selective formation of mono- and disubstituted substrates. Almost all polyfunctionalized quinoxalines synthesized using this approach have shown applications in different areas such as in biological and technological fields.     

Rhodium catalysed C-3/5 methylation of pyridines using temporary dearomatisation

Pyridines are ubiquitous aromatic rings used in organic chemistry and are crucial elements of the drug discovery process. Herein we describe a new catalytic method that directly introduces a methyl group onto the aromatic ring; this new reaction is related to hydrogen borrowing, and is notable for its use of the feedstock chemicals methanol and formaldehyde as the key reagents. Conceptually, the C-3/5 methylation of pyridines was accomplished by exploiting the interface between aromatic and non-aromatic compounds, and this allows an oscillating reactivity pattern to emerge whereby normally electrophilic aromatic compounds become nucleophilic in the reaction after activation by reduction. Thus, a set of C-4 functionalised pyridines can be mono or doubly methylated at the C-3/5 positions.

Electron poor pyridines can be activated by reduction and then methylated at C3/5 using formaldehyde.     

Kinetics of two redox reactions in 2-butoxyethanol and water near its critical point of solution

The rate constants of two redox reactions and in the critical solution of 2-butoxyethanol and water have been measured by using the UV spectrophotometry at the initial reaction stage. It was found that the rate constants at various temperatures for two reactions were well described by the Arrhenius equation in the noncritical region. The critical slowing down effect was detected in the critical region. The critical slowing down exponents were determined to be 0.044 ± 0.004 and 0.046 ± 0.005 for reactions and , respectively. The values of the critical slowing down exponents showed that only dynamic critical slowing down effect, and no thermodynamic singularity could be observed for the two reactions.     

Revitalizing silver nanocrystals as a redox catalyst by modifying their surface with an isocyanide-based compound

Silver is an excellent catalyst for oxidation reactions such as ethylene epoxidation, but it shows limited activity toward reduction reactions. Here we report a strategy to revitalize Ag nanocrystals as a redox catalyst for the production of an aromatic azo compound by modifying their surface with an isocyanide-based compound. We also leverage in situ fingerprint spectroscopy to acquire molecular insights into the reaction mechanism by probing the vibrational modes of all chemical species at the catalytic surface with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. We establish that binding of isocyanide to Ag nanocrystals makes it possible for Ag to extract the oxygen atoms from the nitro-groups of nitroaromatics and then use these atoms to oxidize isocyanide to isocyanate. Concurrently, the coupling between two adjacent deoxygenated nitroaromatic molecules leads to the formation of an aromatic azo compound.

Ag nanocrystals can serve as a redox catalyst for the production of an aromatic azo compound when their surface is modified with an isocyanide-based molecule.     

Recent Advances in Real-Time Analysis of Electrochemical Reactions by Electrochemical Mass Spectrometry†

Electrochemical mass spectrometry (EC-MS) is a powerful tool to capture and analyze the intermediates and products during electrochemical reactions. This hyphenated technique combines electrochemistry with mass spectrometry using specific apparatuses, which helps researchers study mechanisms of redox reactions by in situ detecting chemical composition changes. Recently, various EC-MS methods have been applied in a series of electrochemical reactions to reveal the mechanisms, mainly in the areas of electrochemical sensors, organic electrochemistry, and electrocatalysis. In this review, we intend to summarize the recent advances in real-time analysis of different types of electrochemical reactions by EC-MS and offer an outlook on the perspectives in these areas.      

Geometry,stability and aromaticity of β-diketiminate-coordinated alkaline-earth compounds

Alkaline-earth (Ae) metals have attracted a wealth of interdependent research from synthetic chemists. In Ae-catalyzed organometallic reactions, β-diketiminate is a typical ligand used to stabilize Ae catalysts by forming six-membered rings comprising Ae metals. Herein, studies focusing on the configuration of β-diketiminate-coordinated Ae compounds observed that the CC and CN bonds are homogeneous and unchanged. Furthermore, energetic studies observed that the formation of the Ae-incorporated six-membered rings results in enhanced stability of >20 kcal/mol. The nucleus-independent chemical shifts, anisotropy of the induced current density, and molecular orbital analyses demonstrated the non-aromaticity of the β-diketiminate-coordinated Ae compounds. The improved stability of these compounds can be explained by the delocalization of the π electrons derived from the β-diketiminate moiety.     

Asymmetric synthesis of 1,2-fluorohydrin: iridium catalyzed hydrogenation of fluorinated allylic alcohol

We have developed a simple protocol for the preparation of 1,2-fluorohydrin by asymmetric hydrogenation of fluorinated allylic alcohols using an efficient azabicyclo thiazole-phosphine iridium complex. The iridium-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of chiral 1,2-fluorohydrin molecules was carried out at ambient temperature with operational simplicity, and scalability. This method was compatible with various aromatic, aliphatic, and heterocyclic fluorinated compounds as well as a variety of polyfluorinated compounds, providing the corresponding products in excellent yields and enantioselectivities.

We have developed a simple protocol for the preparation of 1,2-fluorohydrin by asymmetric hydrogenation of fluorinated allylic alcohols using an efficient azabicyclo thiazole-phosphine iridium complex.     

Palladium-catalyzed expedient Heck annulations in 1-bromo-1,5-dien-3-ols: Exceptional formation of fused bicycles

An unprecedented Pd-catalyzed intramolecular Heck cyclization has been investigated on halogenated diene scaffolds undergoing various mode of cyclization and termination leading to the formation of structurally differing fused cyclopenta(e)none and aromatic analogue. The discrimination in the fate of palladium intermediates formed in situ undergoing Heck cyclization preferentially arises out of the difference in reaction temperature as well as substrate architecture. Sequential Heck reaction of 1-Bromo-5-methyl-1-aryl-hexa-1,5-dien-3-ol derivatives followed by oxidation or termination via sp² CH activation in aromatic ring led to the formation of fused cyclopentanes. However, the similar reaction at elevated temperature showed predominance towards the formation of aromatic analogues via one pot cyclization and dehydroxylation. The mechanism for the formation of cyclopentanone fused with cyclopropane ring system is supported by density functional theory based calculations.     

Recent advances in polyoxometalates acid-catalyzed organic reactions

Polyoxometalates (POMs) have conducive properties such as controlled Brønsted and Lewis acidity, high thermal stability, nontoxic nature, tunable solubility, and less corrosiveness. POMs have been extensively applied in catalytic organic reactions and have an exciting prospect for industrial applications. This review summarized recent progress in the application of POMs as acid catalysts for various organic reactions including CC bond formation, CN bond formation, CO bond formation, heterocyclic synthesis reactions, cyanosilylation and hydrolysis reactions. Various POMs catalysts including heteropoly acids (HPAs) and cationic functionalized HPAs with Brønsted acidity, HPAs supported on non-precious metal support with Brønsted acidity (or both Brønsted and Lewis acidity), transition metal substituted POMs with Lewis acidity were applied in above reactions. This review attempts to provide up-to-date information about POMs acid-catalyzed organic reactions and propose future prospects.     

General and selective synthesis of primary amines using Ni-based homogeneous catalysts

The development of base metal catalysts for industrially relevant amination and hydrogenation reactions by applying abundant and atom economical reagents continues to be important for the cost-effective and sustainable synthesis of amines which represent highly essential chemicals. In particular, the synthesis of primary amines is of central importance because these compounds serve as key precursors and central intermediates to produce value-added fine and bulk chemicals as well as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and materials. Here we report a Ni-triphos complex as the first Ni-based homogeneous catalyst for both reductive amination of carbonyl compounds with ammonia and hydrogenation of nitroarenes to prepare all kinds of primary amines. Remarkably, this Ni-complex enabled the synthesis of functionalized and structurally diverse benzylic, heterocyclic and aliphatic linear and branched primary amines as well as aromatic primary amines starting from inexpensive and easily accessible carbonyl compounds (aldehydes and ketones) and nitroarenes using ammonia and molecular hydrogen. This Ni-catalyzed reductive amination methodology has been applied for the amination of more complex pharmaceuticals and steroid derivatives. Detailed DFT computations have been performed for the Ni-triphos based reductive amination reaction, and they revealed that the overall reaction has an inner-sphere mechanism with H₂ metathesis as the rate-determining step.

A Ni-triphos based homogeneous catalyst enabled the synthesis of all kinds of primary amines by reductive amination of carbonyl compounds with ammonia and hydrogenation of nitroarenes.     

Transition‐Metal‐Free Intramolecular Carbene Aromatic Substitution/Büchner Reaction: Synthesis of Fluorenes and [6,5,7]Benzo‐fused Rings

Intramolecular aromatic substitution and Büchner reaction have been established as powerful methods for the construction of polycyclic compounds. These reactions are traditionally catalyzed by Rh^II catalysts with α‐diazocarbonyl compounds as the substrates. Herein a transition‐metal‐free intramolecular aromatic substitution/Büchner reaction is presented. These reactions use readily available N‐tosylhydrazones as the diazo compound precursors and show wide substrate scope.     

Activating weak electrophiles to break nonpolar C-C bonds with electric fields

Electrophilic aromatic substitution (EAS) is a critical chemical reaction in organic chemistry in which electrophiles reagents is normally required. Recently, a study published by Yaping Zang and colleagues in Nature Communications demonstrates the use of an electric field as a catalyst to regulate EAS reactivity, replacing conventional chemical reagents. The research team discovered that an electric field could activate an otherwise unreactive electrophile and break inert nonpolar C-C bonds under mild conditions. These unprecedented results showcase the potential for broadening the scope of EAS reactions via electric field catalysis.

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Copper 1,19-Diaza-21,24-dicarbacorrole: A Corrole Analogue with an N−N Linkage Stabilizes a Ground-State Singlet Organocopper Species

A copper complex of a heterocorrole analogue with an N–N linkage, 1,19-diaza-21,24-dicarbadibenzocorrole ( Cu-5 ), was successfully synthesized via oxidative metalation–cyclization of a tetrapyrrolic precursor. The N–N linkage in the skeleton of Cu-5 , which serves as a mediator of π-electron delocalization, features an 18π aromatic system. The electronic structure of Cu-5 is best described as a ground-state singlet species stabilized by the distinct NNCC coordination core. This finding shows how the ligand's design can be used to modulate the Cu orbital energy, thereby making such compounds invaluable for copper-based catalytic applications.