In situ extended X-ray absorption fine structure study during selective alcohol oxidation over Pd/Al2O3 in supercritical carbon dioxide

High-pressure in situ X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) data are reported during the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde in supercritical carbon dioxide over a Pd/Al(2)O(3) catalyst (shell impregnated). For this purpose, a continuous-flow system with a spectroscopic cell suitable for in situ X-ray absorption studies on heterogeneous catalysts up to 200 degrees C and 200 bar has been developed. Due to the high contribution of the dense fluid to the overall X-ray absorption, high stability of the process pressure is mandatory, particularly when recording EXAFS spectra. According to EXAFS and XANES results, the palladium particles were fully reduced after exposure to benzyl alcohol in scCO(2). In contrast to Pd-catalyzed liquid-phase oxidation, a higher oxygen tolerance of the catalyst was observed. Palladium was partially oxidized on the surface under typical reaction conditions (0.9 mol % benzyl alcohol/0.5 mol % O(2) in carbon dioxide), which gradually increased when the concentration of oxygen in the feed was raised. Both XANES and EXAFS data uncovered that palladium is mainly oxidized on the surface or within the outermost layers. These results are in accordance with simulations of the XANES data using the FEFF8.20 code (program for ab initio calculations on multiple scattering XAS) and EXAFS data fitting/simulation.     

Reactions of Cyanomethanesulfonamides with Aldehydes and Synthesis of 2-Benzyl-2,3-dihydrobenzopyrano[3,2-e] [1,2,4]thiadiazine 1,1-Dioxides

Summary.  Reactions of cyanomethanesulfonamides with aromatic aldehydes in the presence of AcOH and piperidine produced the addition products, the 1-cyano-2-arylethenesulfonamides, whereas reactions with benzonitrile yielded the 2-amino-1-cyano-2-phenylethenesulfonamides only when done in THF with BuLi. No addition products were isolated from the analogue reactions with 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde (salicylaldehyde). Instead, we obtained 2-imino-2H-chromene-3-sulfonamides with good to excellent yields. These 2H-chromene derivatives allowed a number of transformations, from which the reactions with orthoformates opened an approach to the hitherto unknown benzopyrano[3,2-e] [1,2,4]thiadiazine ring system.     

Discrimination of active palladium sites in catalytic liquid-phase oxidation of benzyl alcohol

Knowledge of the structure of active sites is a prerequisite for the rational design of solid catalysts. Using site-selective blocking by CO and isotope labeling combined with in situ attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy, we were able to discriminate the different sites involved in the liquid-phase oxidation of benzyl alcohol on Pd/Al(2)O(3). The main reaction, that is, the oxidative dehydrogenation of the alcohol to the corresponding aldehyde, showed only little dependence on structure and occurred on all exposed Pd faces, whereas the undesired product decarbonylation occurred preferentially on hollow sites on (111) Pd faces. This explains why specific blocking of the latter sites, as realized in the industrially used Pd-Bi/Al(2)O(3) catalysts, leads to improved catalytic performance.     

Hydrogen bonding in 4‐nitrobenzene‐1,2‐diamine and two hydrohalide salts

The structures of 4‐nitrobenzene‐1,2‐diamine [C₆H₇N₃O₂, (I)], 2‐amino‐5‐nitroanilinium chloride [C₆H₈N₃O₂⁺·Cl⁻, (II)] and 2‐amino‐5‐nitroanilinium bromide monohydrate [C₆H₈N₃O₂⁺·Br⁻·H₂O, (III)] are reported and their hydrogen‐bonded structures described. The amine group para to the nitro group in (I) adopts an approximately planar geometry, whereas the meta amine group is decidedly pyramidal. In the hydrogen halide salts (II) and (III), the amine group meta to the nitro group is protonated. Compound (I) displays a pleated‐sheet hydrogen‐bonded two‐dimensional structure with R₂²(14) and R₄⁴(20) rings. The sheets are joined by additional hydrogen bonds, resulting in a three‐dimensional extended structure. Hydrohalide salt (II) has two formula units in the asymmetric unit that are related by a pseudo‐inversion center. The dominant hydrogen‐bonding interactions involve the chloride ion and result in R₄²(8) rings linked to form a ladder‐chain structure. The chains are joined by N—H...Cl and N—H...O hydrogen bonds to form sheets parallel to (010). In hydrated hydrohalide salt (III), bromide ions are hydrogen bonded to amine and ammonium groups to form R₄²(8) rings. The water behaves as a double donor/single acceptor and, along with the bromide anions, forms hydrogen bonds involving the nitro, amine, and ammonium groups. The result is sheets parallel to (001) composed of alternating R₅⁵(15) and R₆⁴(24) rings. Ammonium N—H...Br interactions join the sheets to form a three‐dimensional extended structure. Energy‐minimized structures obtained using DFT and MP2 calculations are consistent with the solid‐state structures. Consistent with (II) and (III), calculations show that protonation of the amine group meta to the nitro group results in a structure that is about 1.5 kJ mol⁻¹ more stable than that obtained by protonation of the para‐amine group. DFT calculations on single molecules and hydrogen‐bonded pairs of molecules based on structural results obtained for (I) and for 3‐nitrobenzene‐1,2‐diamine, (IV) [Betz & Gerber (2011). Acta Cryst. E 67 , o1359] were used to estimate the strength of the N—H...O(nitro) interactions for three observed motifs. The hydrogen‐bonding interaction between the pairs of molecules examined was found to correspond to 20–30 kJ mol⁻¹.     

Hyperpositive non-linear effects: enantiodivergence and modelling

The chiral ligand N-methylephedrine (NME) was found to catalyse the addition of dimethylzinc to benzaldehyde in an enantiodivergent way, with a monomeric and a homochiral dimeric complex both catalysing the reaction at a steady state and giving opposite product enantiomers. A change in the sign of the enantiomeric product was thus possible by simply varying the catalyst loading or the ligand ee, giving rise to an enantiodivergent non-linear effect. Simulations using a mathematical model confirmed the possibility of such behaviour and showed that this can lead to situations where a reaction gives racemic products, although the system is composed only of highly enantioselective individual catalysts. Furthermore, depending on the dimer''s degree of participation in the catalytic conversion, enantiodivergence may or may not be observed experimentally, which raises questions about the possibility of enantiodivergence in other monomer/dimer-catalysed systems. Simulations of the reaction kinetics showed that the observed kinetic constant k_obs is highly dependent on user-controlled parameters, such as the catalyst concentration and the ligand ee, and may thus vary in a distinct way from one experimental setup to another. This unusual dependency of k_obs allowed us to confirm that a previously observed U-shaped catalyst order vs. catalyst loading-plot is linked to the simultaneous catalytic activity of both monomeric and dimeric complexes.

An asymmetric reaction consisting of competing monomeric and dimeric catalysts may explain enantiodivergent non-linear effects.     

Synthesis of 1,2-Diazol-4-sulfonamides, 1,2,4- and 1,2,5-Oxadiazol-3-sulfonamides, 1,2,3-Triazol-4-sulfonamides, and Pyrimidine-5-sulfonamides starting from Cyanomethanesulfonyl Chloride

Summary. Cyanomethanesulfonyl chloride was reacted with amines yielding cyanomethanesulfonamides which could be transformed into alkoxymethylidene and aminomethylidene derivatives. The reaction of alkoxymethylidene derivatives with phenylhydrazine resulted in the formation of 5-aminopyrazol-4-sulfonamides, whereas from cyanomethanesulfonamides via the N-hydroxyamidine derivatives and their reaction with esters 1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-methanesulfonamides became accessible. Nitrosation of cyanomethanesulfonamides yielded 2-hydroxyimino derivatives which were then transformed into 2-hydroxyimino N-hydroxyamidine derivatives, and finally cyclized into 4-amino-1,2,5-oxadiazol-3-sulfonamides. On the other hand diazotation of cyanomethanesulfonamides gave the 2-arylhydrazono derivatives, which after transformation into N-hydroxyamidine derivatives gave by reaction with POCl₃ 5-amino-1,2,3-triazol-4-sulfonamides. Finally, the reaction between cyanomethanesulfonamides and formamidinium acetate opened an easy access to 4-aminopyrimidine-5-sulfonamides, which could be transformed by trialkyl orthoformiates into substituted pyrimidino[4,5-e][1,2,4]thiadiazine derivatives. All intermediates as well as transformation products of the heterocyclic systems were isolated and well characterized. Mechanisms were discussed, and the stereochemistry, when necessary and possible, was elucidated.     

Herstellung von substituierten 2-Aminooxazol-4-carbonitrilen

Preparation of Substituted 2-Aminooxazole-4-carbonitriles During our synthetic programme to convert 4-isoxazolylthioureas 3 into the corresponding carbodiimides 5 , a side reaction leading to the hitherto unknown 2-aminooxazole-4-carbonitriles 6 was observed. By selecting appropriate reaction conditions, it was possible to improve the yields of the carbodiimides 5 as well as of the novel oxazole-carbonitriles 6 at will, thus allowing the synthesis of 6 to be conducted in very good yields. To overcome the difficulty of isolating unstable carbodiimides, the synthesis of 6 is best carried out in a one-pot procedure. A limited mechanistic study showed that the formation of 6 proceeds via 5 as the only intermediate. The stability of the N?C?N bonds against base attack (depending strongly on both sterical hindrance and electronic-density factors) forms the only limitation of this new synthetic pathway to oxazole-4-carbonitriles.     

Palladium‐, Platin‐ und Dieisenkomplexe mit Isocyanacetat: Ringschluß, säureinduzierte Ringöffnung,Diprotonierung

Palladium, Platinum, and Diiron Complexes with Isocyanoacetate: Ring Closure, Acid‐Induced Ring Opening, Diprotonation Substitution by isocyanoacetate (CNCH₂CO₂^?) of one chloro ligand in trans‐[MCl₂(PPh₃)₂] (M = Pd, Pt) results in the Δ²‐oxazolin‐5‐on‐2‐ato complexes 4a , b , i.e. immediate cyclization occurs in contact with these metal(II) species. In contrast, the open‐chain form of the functional isocyanide is retained in [K(18‐crown‐6][Fe₂Cp₂(CNCH₂CO₂)(CO)₃] ( 16 ) in which it occupies a terminal position. Protonation (alkylation) of the platinum complex 4b proceeds with ring cleavage and formation of isocyano acetic acid 11 (ethyl isocyanoacetate 12 ) stabilized by metal ion coordination. Protonation of 16 requires two equivalents of acid to yield the aminocarbyne‐bridged complex [{μ‐C=N(H)CH₂CO₂H}Fe₂Cp₂(CO)₃](BF₄) ( 17 ) as the only isolable product. Here isocyanoacetate displays a third kind of reactivity pattern in addition to that at Pd^II/Pt^II and that at Cr⁰/W⁰ where the primary species [M(CO)₅CNCH₂CO₂]^? and [M(CO)₅CNCH₂CO₂H] proved to be the most stable. All of the proposed structures are substantiated by analytical and the usual spectroscopic (IR, NMR{¹H, ¹³C, ³¹P}, FAB‐MS) data, that of 4b also by an X‐ray structure determination which reveals a practically perpendicular arrangement of the coordination and the ring plane, and a long C2‐O bond as the predetermined breaking point of the heterocycle.     

Chemical modification of colloidal masks for nanolithography

A method is presented to tune the holes in colloidal masks used for nanolithography. Using a simple wet-chemical method, a thin layer of silica is grown on masks of silica particles. The size of the holes is controlled by the amount of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) added. More accurate tuning of the hole size is possible in the presence of a calibrated seed dispersion of silica colloids. We demonstrate modified masks that were used to create arrays of metal nanoparticles with a size ranging from 400 nm, for unmodified masks, down to tens of nanometers. The method is easy-to-use, fast, and inexpensive.     

Geometric and electronic structures of peroxomanganese(III) complexes supported by pentadentate amino-pyridine and -imidazole ligands

Three peroxomanganese(III) complexes [Mn(III)(O(2))(mL(5)(2))](+), [Mn(III)(O(2))(imL(5)(2))](+), and [Mn(III)(O(2))(N4py)](+) supported by pentadentate ligands (mL(5)(2) = N-methyl-N,N',N'-tris(2-pyridylmethyl)ethane-1,2-diamine, imL(5)(2) = N-methyl-N,N',N'-tris((1-methyl-4-imidazolyl)methyl)ethane-1,2-diamine, and N4py = N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-N-bis(2-pyridyl)methylamine) were generated by treating Mn(II) precursors with H(2)O(2) or KO(2). Electronic absorption, magnetic circular dichroism (MCD), and variable-temperature, variable-field MCD data demonstrate that these complexes have very similar electronic transition energies and ground-state zero-field splitting parameters, indicative of nearly identical coordination geometries. Because of uncertainty in peroxo (side-on η(2) versus end-on η(1)) and ligand (pentadentate versus tetradentate) binding modes, density functional theory (DFT) computations were used to distinguish between three possible structures: pentadentate ligand binding with (i) a side-on peroxo and (ii) an end-on peroxo, and (iii) tetradentate ligand binding with a side-on peroxo. Regardless of the supporting ligand, isomers with a side-on peroxo and the supporting ligand bound in a tetradentate fashion were identified as most stable by >20 kcal/mol. Spectroscopic parameters computed by time-dependent (TD) DFT and multireference SORCI methods provided validation of these isomers on the basis of experimental data. Hexacoordination is thus strongly preferred for peroxomanganese(III) adducts, and dissociation of a pyridine (mL(5)(2) and N4py) or imidazole (imL(5)(2)) arm is thermodynamically favored. In contrast, DFT computations for models of [Fe(III)(O(2))(mL(5)(2))](+) demonstrate that pyridine dissociation is not favorable; instead a seven-coordinate ferric center is preferred. These different results are attributed to the electronic configurations of the metal centers (high spin d(5) and d(4) for Fe(III) and Mn(III), respectively), which results in population of a metal-peroxo σ-antibonding molecular orbital and, consequently, longer M-O(peroxo) bonds for peroxoiron(III) species.