Recent Progress in the Catalytic Synthesis of Imidazoles

Imidazole is one of the important heteroaromatic compounds that have found a broad range of uses in, for example, pharmaceutical and industrial applications. Several conventional methodologies for the synthesis of imidazole rings are known; however, they are limited in terms of substrate generality and are not always efficient. Recent studies toward the development of catalytic reactions have brought significant improvements to the preparation of imidazoles. This Focus Review highlights the very recent progress in the catalytic synthesis of imidazoles, particularly those involving the formation of five‐membered ring cores.     

Recent advances in the iron-catalysed multicomponent reactions

Iron-catalysed reactions are widely used in organic synthesis owing to its benefits over other metals. Among the important organic reactions, multicomponent reactions play a significant role due to its greener aspects like high atom economy, minimal amount of by-product, economic feasibility etc. For the past few years, iron-catalysed multicomponent reactions have attracted the attention of several chemists which lead to the invention of some fine chemistry. The majority of iron-catalysed multicomponent reactions results in the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds having biologically active natural products, pharmaceutical etc. These developments in the iron-catalysed multicomponent reactions are the focus of this review. This is the first review in this topic which covers the literature up to 2020, and it encompasses the different methods for the synthesis of acyclic, carbocyclic and heterocyclic compounds.     

CoFe2O4@SiO2-NH2-CoII NPs catalyzed Hantzsch reaction as an efficient,reusable catalyst for the facile,green, one-pot synthesis of novel functionalized 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives

A magnetically heterogeneous CoFe₂O₄@SiO₂-NH₂-Co^II nanoparticle was synthesized by the immobilization of Co (II) complex onto CoFe₂O₄@SiO₂ nanoparticles, and the heterogeneous magnetic nanocatalyst was characterized by XRD, TEM, TGA, EDX, and FT-IR techniques. Then, the green and reusable method was introduced for a multicomponent synthesis of 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives via Hantszch reaction. The synthesis of 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives was proceeded by the reaction of aldehyde, ethyl acetoacetate, and ammonium acetate in the presence of this magnetic nanocatalyst in EtOH/Water (1:1). Simple work-up, short reaction times, excellent yields (60–96%) as well as green solvent are some advantages of this novel approach, and the corresponding products were purified with no need for chromatographic separation.     

A review on multi-component green synthesis of N-containing heterocycles using mixed oxides as heterogeneous catalysts

The use of mixed oxides is a well-appreciated approach in the fields of material science and synthesis, due to remarkable tunable surface properties such as acidic and basic characteristics, oxidation/reduction capabilities, and high agility of lattice oxygen, which makes them ideal choices as heterogeneous catalysts. The activity of the mixed oxides broadly relies on the nature of support and active material used and on the preparation method, calcination temperatures. Wide range of techniques for preparation of mixed oxide materials are adoptable, viz. sol-gel, co-precipitation, wet impregnation, microwave irradiation and hydrothermal methods. Use of mixed oxides as solid catalysts have gained popularity in many valued organic transformations, via alkylation, oxidation, condensation, dehydration, dehydrogenation, cycloaddition and isomerization. Application of mixed oxides in the area of green organic synthesis is a valuable strategy, which contributed significantly to the design of many novel heterocyclic scaffolds. The chemistry of N-heterocycle scaffolds, which generally possess five and six membered rings, is an interesting area for both synthetic and medicinal chemistry research constituting over 60% organics used in various arenas. The position and number of nitrogen atoms in the rings, distinguish them as pyrroles, pyrazoles, imidazoles, triazoles, pyridines and pyramidines classes. In this review, we focus on the scope, importance and versatile applications of mixed metal oxides and their synergetic effects as heterogeneous catalysts in the synthesis of variety of N-heterocyclic derivatives. The scientific aspects of the mixed oxides as catalytic active materials to design efficient synthetic protocols for the organic transformations is also discussed.     

Four-Component,One-Pot Synthesis of Tetra-Substituted Imidazoles Using a Catalytic Amount of MCM-41 or p-TsOH

An improved and rapid one-pot synthesis of tetrasubstituted imidazoles by condensing benzil, ammonium acetate, amines, and aromatic aldehydes and using a catalytic amount of silica structure MCM-41 or p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TsOH) as efficient, green, reusable catalysts in excellent yields is reported.     

Flow fine synthesis with heterogeneous catalysts

In the past few decades, organic reactions under flow conditions have attracted increasing attention. Flow reactions have a number of advantages over batch reactions in terms of environmental compatibility, efficiency, and safety. In particular, flow reactions with heterogeneous catalysts that yield desired products without significant levels of by-product formation can enable purification processes to be avoided. This feature can allow flow reactions to be assembled in a multi-step and continuous manner for the synthesis of complex molecules. These new techniques have opened up new approaches to the synthesis of fine chemicals and are expected to play a prominent role in future chemical manufacturing processes. In this context, this review aims to summarize recent developments in continuous-flow reactions with heterogeneous catalysts for synthesis of fine chemicals.     

Bifunctional solid catalysts for chemoselective hydrogenation-cyclisation-amination cascade reactions of relevance for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals

The benzodiazepines olanzapine and clozapine are nowadays manufactured by a three-step process with a final yield below 50%. An approach to environmentally-friendly intensive processes consists in the development of multifunctional solid catalyst able to catalyze multistep reactions. Here, a bifunctional metal-acid solid catalyst has been prepared and is able to carry out hydrogenation-cyclisation-amination reactions in a cascade process. The catalytic system is illustrated for the synthesis of these important antipsychotics, being an alternative for the current industrial process that requires three steps batch reactions, using mineral acids and bases, and stoichiometric amounts of SnCl₂.     

多相催化时空演变的全生命周期表征策略

可持续发展的化学工业需要新型高效的催化材料和催化过程,尤其需要生态友好、本质安全的新催化过程,其本质是提高合适反应器内催化剂的选择性、活性和稳定性.因此,通过原位技术实时表征反应状态下的催化剂结构并同步测试催化性能,有助于全面研究真实反应条件下催化剂及其表面物种随时间的演变过程,深入理解催化剂构效关系的本质,为开发新一代催化技术提供科学依据.迄今,在实际催化体系中实现催化剂从活化、运行到失活的全生命周期表征仍存在巨大挑战.本文综述了分子筛、金属、金属氧化物三类典型催化剂在甲醇制烯烃、费托合成、丙烷脱氢等催化反应中的全生命周期时空演变,分析了所采用的表征研究策略,以期为新型工业催化的应用基础研究提供启示.据文献报道,甲醇制烯烃反应案例主要利用了原位紫外-可见光谱和固态核磁共振光谱等获得SAPO-34分子筛催化剂从诱导期、自催化期到失活期的表面烃池物种性质和动态演变;费托合成反应案例主要利用了同步辐射X射线衍射计算机断层扫描和X射线吸收光谱等技术研究单个毫米级Co/γ-Al2O3催化剂颗粒在还原条件和费托合成条件下的催化剂结构演变;丙烷脱氢反应案例主要结合原位的紫外-可见和拉曼光纤探头分析了CrOx/Al2O3催化剂在700 ml固定床反应器中不同床层积炭的时空演变.这些研究案例表明,因受限于表征仪器的时空分辨率和适用工况,多数重要的催化反应尚未完全实现工业条件下的全生命周期表征;但通过合理简化非关键变量,可以获得近似工业条件下的多相催化时空演变规律,这些原位表征研究拓展了多相催化的新认识新发现.着眼未来,近似工业反应条件的原位表征、多尺度的原位表征装置设计、反应条件下的计算模拟等策略将在催化研发中发挥重要作用.这些全生命周期表征策略反映了催化研究范式的转变,但将其应用于工业实践仍面临许多科学和工程的挑战.从实际应用角度看,还需综合考虑原位表征技术的成本、安全性和准确性,重视催化剂颗粒及反应器尺度的原位表征,不断推进新型催化剂的研发.     

金属催化合成呋喃衍生物的最新进展

综述了近几年来利用金属催化合成多取代呋喃环的方法。分两大类介绍：一是通过对呋喃环进行结构改造,即呋喃金属试剂在过渡金属催化下与卤化物或酰氯发生偶联反应得到,或呋喃卤化物与金属试剂、烯烃、炔烃偶联得到;二是以非环状化合物为前体进行呋喃环的构筑,即在金属试剂催化下,1,2-联烯基酮、β-碘代-β-烯酮、叁键在α,β-、β,γ-、γ,δ-的炔酮、4-炔-2-烯醇可以关环得到多取代的呋喃产物。此外,在Ru~2(OAc)~4催化下,α-叠氮酮与炔烃反应得到金属卡宾中间体,然后关环也可得到取代呋喃产物。     

Asymmetric Diels-Alder reactions with hydrogen bonding heterogeneous catalysts and mechanistic studies on the reversal of enantioselectivity

Chiral bis(oxazoline) complexes of Cu(II), Zn(II) and Mg(II) have been immobilized on silica support via hydrogen-bonding interactions. Up to 93% ee is obtained in the Diels-Alder reaction between 3-((E)-2-butenoyl)-1,3-oxazolin-2-one and cyclopentadiene at room temperature with the heterogeneous bis(oxazoline) complexes, and the catalysts can be recycled without losing enantioselectivity. Experimental and theoretical studies show that the reversal of the absolute product configuration upon immobilization of the PhBOX-Cu(II) catalyst is triggered by the anion dissociation from Cu(II) onto the surface of the support.     

Metal-organic framework nanosheets and their composites for heterogeneous thermal catalysis: Recent progresses and challenges

Metal-organic framework nanosheets (MONs) as the emerging materials have been attracting great interest because the nanosheets possess a range of fascinating attributes including high surface areas and sufficient accessible active sites, and their nanoscale thicknesses are favorable for mass diffusion and transfer of substrates and products with respect to bulk metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). This review first summarizes the synthetic methods of various MONs from top-down and bottom-up methods as well as their diverse composites with different components. Then, the catalytic applications of MON based nanocatalysts are discussed and the relationships among the composition, structure and catalytic performances are revealed. Finally, the challenges and future outlook about the synthesis of diverse MONs and their composites for heterogeneous catalysis are prospected.     

A new eco-friendly strategy for the synthesis of novel antimicrobial spiro-oxindole derivatives via supramolecular catalysis

Novel spiro-oxindole derivatives were synthesised by one-pot multicomponent reaction using isatins, urea and 1,3-dicarbonyls. β-Cyclodextrin, an oligosaccharide, catalysed the reaction and can be reused for further reaction after recovery. This developed synthetic route is environmentally benign in which water is used as solvent to produce excellent yields of products. The synthesised compounds were evaluated for their antimicrobial activities against two bacteria and two fungi. All the synthesised spiro-oxindoles exhibit significant antimicrobial activity.     

Ytterbium triflate catalyzed synthesis of β-functionalized indole derivatives

Ytterbium triflate was shown to be effective in promoting the synthesis of substituted indole derivatives starting from indole, aldehydes, and dimethyl malonate by a Yonemitsu-type three component reaction. The whole process was carried out in solvent-free conditions and furnished the desired adducts in 42-67% yield.     

Recent advances in asymmetric synthesis of 2-substituted indoline derivatives

Recent advances in asymmetric synthesis of 2-substituted indoline derivatives are discussed.     

Design of highly active heterogeneous palladium catalysts for the activation of aryl chlorides in Heck reactions

In situ generation of highly active palladium species by intermediate dissolution of Pd from solid supported catalysts has been demonstrated to be a very successful approach for the activation of aryl chlorides in Heck reactions. The new ‘heterogeneous’ Pd catalysts act as reservoir for molecular Pd species with unsaturated coordination sphere in solution. Crucial Pd leaching and re-deposition onto the support can be controlled by optimization of reaction conditions and by the properties of the catalysts. Pd is re-deposited onto the support at the end of the reaction. The catalysts, palladium supported on activated carbon, on various metal oxides or fluorides and Pd complexes in zeolites, are easy to prepare, though the preparation conditions are crucial. The catalysts convert all aryl bromides completely within minutes (TON 100,000). Aryl chlorides (even deactivated ones) are converted with high yields, within 2-6 h. The catalysts belong to the most active ones in Heck reactions at all (including best homogeneous systems) and fulfill all relevant requirements for practical applications in laboratory and industry.     

Clays as selective catalysts in organic synthesis

Suitably modified smectite clays can be very selective catalysts for a wide range of organic reactions. While it has long been known that such materials can act as Bronsted and Lewis acids, it has been shown recently that they are also effective Diels-Alder catalysts. A selection of illustrative reactions is given which emphasises their wide range of use, their selectivity, and the ease of work-up after reaction. In each case, mechanistic information is presented, e.g., on the site of reaction (whether interlayer or surface), rate determining steps, etc. The regiochemical consequences of the restricted reaction space are stressed.Based on material presented at the Fourth International Symposium on Inclusion Phenomena and the Third International Symposium on Cyclodextrins, Lancaster, U.K., 20–25 July 1986.     

A green,efficient and recoverable CeO2/MWCNT nanocomposite catalyzed click synthesis of pyridine-3-carboxamides

A facile, green and environmentally-friendly protocol for the preparation of ceria doped multi-walled carbon nanotubes (2.5%CeO₂/MWCNTs) composite catalysts are developed. The synthesized catalyst materials have been characterized by using P-XRD, SEM, TEM and BET analysis. Further, the composite was utilized as a highly efficient and reusable heterogeneous nano-catalyst for the synthesis of pyridine-3-carboxamide derivatives by multicomponent condensation of acetoacetanilide, ammonium acetate, substituted aromatic aldehyde and ethyl cyanoacetate via one-pot reaction under ethanol solvent conditions at R.T. The remarkable advantages of this green protocol exhibits operational simplicity, easy workup procedure, inexpensive, evading of toxic solvents, shorter reaction times (≤ 15 mins), excellent yields and also avoidance of column chromatography. Furthermore, the catalyst was recyclable and reusability endured for a minimum of six consecutive cycles without significant loss in the catalytic activity.     

氯化铵催化有机合成反应的研究进展

廉价易得且对环境友好无毒的氯化铵作为Lewis酸催化剂,表现出较高的催化活性,已经成为有机合成中的一个重要方法,近年来一直是有机化学和催化化学的研究热点之一.本文按照反应类型的不同对近年来氯化铵催化的有机反应研究进展进行了综述.     

Facile one-pot synthesis of new [1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyridine derivatives by ultrasonic irradiation

Herein, we report an ultrasonic promoted facile and convenient “one-pot” procedure for the synthesis of new [1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyridine derivatives 3, 4 and 5, using Amberlite IRA-400, in short reaction times and high yields and its comparison with classical reaction conditions. The structures of new compounds were assigned with the help of analytical ¹H, ¹³C NMR, and mass spectral studies.     

Polymer-supported zinc chloride: a highly active and reusable heterogeneous catalyst for one-pot synthesis of 2,4,5-trisubstituted imidazoles

Abstract  A polymer-supported Lewis acid catalyst was prepared and found to be extremely efficient for the preparation of imidazole derivatives via three-component condensation of benzil, aldehydes, and ammonium acetate under mild conditions. The catalyst is stable and can be easily recovered and reused at least four times without any loss of activity. Graphical Abstract