Site-isolation effects in a dendritic nickel catalyst for the oligomerization of ethylene

Dendrimers, specifically suited to construct site-isolated groups due to their well-defined hyperbranched structure, have been used as a ligand design element for the construction of nickel catalysts for ethylene oligomerization. The dendritic P,O ligand indeed suppresses the formation of inactive bis(P,O)Ni complexes in toluene, as is evident from NMR studies, and, as a consequence, outperforms the parent ligand in catalysis in this solvent. The dendritic effect observed in methanol is more subtle because both the dendritic ligand 1 and the parent 2 form bis(P,O)nickel complexes in solution according to NMR spectroscopy. Unlike the parent complex 8, the dendritic bis(P,O)Ni complex 7 derived from dendrimer ligand 1 is able to dissociate to a mono-ligated species under catalytic conditions, that is, 40 bar ethylene and 80 degrees C, which can enter the catalytic cycle. Indeed, dendritic ligand 1 gives much more active nickel catalysts for the oligomerization in methanol than does 2.     

Chemie von α-Aminonitrilen 22. Mitteilung Regioselektive Synthese und Kristallstruktur von Uroporphyrinogen-(Typ I)-octanitril

Chemistry of α-Aminonitriles. Regioselective Synthesis and Crystal Structure of Uroporphyrinogen (Type I) Octanitrile A regioselective synthesis of uroporphyrinogen-octanitrile (type I) based on the strategy of multiple use of (dimethylmethylidene)ammonium iodide for stepwise regioselective functionalization of the pyrrole nucleus is described. This uroporphyrinogen derivative is remarkably stable and beautifully crystallizes in space group P1 with one molecule per unit cell. The crystal structure of the compound shows interesting conformational characteristics which are interpreted to be caused by subtle stereoelectronic effects. The English Footnotes to Schemes 1-3 and Figs. 1-12 provide an extension of this summary.     

Propagation of melting cooperativity along the phosphodiester backbone of DNA

The role of the DNA phosphodiester backbone in the transfer of melting cooperativity between two helical domains was experimentally addressed with a helix-bulge-helix DNA model, in which the bulge consisted of a varying number of either conformationally flexible propanediol or conformationally constrained bicyclic anucleosidic phosphodiester backbone units. We found that structural communication between two double helical domains is transferred along the DNA backbone over the equivalent of ca. 12-20 backbone units, depending on whether there is a symmetric or asymmetric distribution of the anucleosidic units on both strands. We observed that extension of anucleosidic units on one strand only suffices to disrupt cooperativity transfer in a similar way as if extension occurs on both strands, indicating that the length of the longest anucleosidic inset determines cooperativity transfer. Furthermore, conformational rigidity of the sugar unit increases the distance of coopertivity transfer along the phosphodiester backbone. This is especially the case when the units are asymmetrically distributed in both strands.     

Influence of structural changes on the ion selectivities of magnesium ionophores based on malonic acid diamides

In an investigation of octamethylene bis(malonic acid diamides) and their selectivities for magnesium, it was found that presence of secondary amides within the particular ionophore played a considerable role in the enhancement of magnesium selectivity. Similar effects in other ionophores, i.e. tris(malonic acid diamides), were thus systematically looked at with the help of selectivity measurements with the hope of optimizing the number of secondary and tertiary amides so as to improve the magnesium selectivity. The syntheses of several investigated tris(malonic acid diamide) isologues are equally reported.Deceased in November 1992     

Adducts of organogallium chlorides with hydrazines and the formation of dimeric dialkylgallium hydrazides possessing different ring sizes

The dialkylgallium chlorides R₂GaCl (R = Me, Et, CMe₃) reacted with hydrazines H₂N-N(H)R′ (R′ = CMe₃, C₆H₅) to form the adducts R₂ClGa ← NH₂-N(H)R′ (1-4), in which the gallium atoms are coordinated by the NH₂ nitrogen atoms of the hydrazine ligands. Treatment of these adducts with tert-butyllithium as a base afforded dialkylgallium hydrazides (R₂Ga-N₂H₂R′)₂ [5 (R = R′ = CMe₃) and 6 (R = CMe₃, R′ = C₆H₅)] by deprotonation of the hydrazine ligands and precipitation of LiCl in two cases only. The remaining adducts gave a substitution reaction at gallium or an unclear reaction course. The hydrazides 5 and 6 adopt different structures in the solid state. The tri(tert-butyl) compound 5 possesses a four-membered Ga₂N₂ heterocycle in its molecular core with two exocyclic N-N bonds, which represents the structural motif usually observed for dialkylgallium hydrazides. 6 has a five-membered Ga₂N₃ heterocycle with one endocyclic and one exocyclic N-N bond. That structure is preserved in solution as clearly shown by NMR spectroscopy. The behaviour of 5 in solution is more complicated, which may be caused by cis/trans isomerization.     

Stereochemical Aspects in the Asymmetric Michael Addition of Chiral Imines to Substituted Electrophilic Alkenes

The Michael-type addition of chiral imines, derived from racemic alpha-substituted cyclanones and optically active 1-phenylethylamine, to electrophilic alkenes, in neutral conditions, constitutes one of the most efficient methods for the stereocontrolled construction of quaternary carbon centers. In order to create an additional stereogenic center at the alpha- or beta-position to the quaternary one, the behavior of a variety of alpha- and beta-substituted alkenyl acceptors was examined. In general, these additions are highly regioselective, the alkylation taking place predominantly, if not exclusively, at the more substituted alpha-side of the imine function; however, in some cases (electrophilic alkenes 28 and 49), significant amounts (10-15%) of regioisomeric adducts were obtained. With the exception of methyl propiolate 52, a remarkable control of the absolute configuration of the adducts were always observed with these Michael acceptors. According to the general rule we have previously proposed, the alkylation process takes place preferentially on the less hindered pi-face of the more substituted secondary enamine, in tautomeric equilibrium with the starting imine. An excellent diastereocontrol was always obtained by using the present alpha- and beta-substituted alkenes. These stereochemical outcomes can be interpreted by invoking that the reaction proceeds through a compact approach of the reactants, the hydrogen atom at the nitrogen center of the enamine being transferred to the alpha-vinylic carbon atom of the acceptor, concertedly with the creation of the C-C bond. In this respect the "endo-approach" 58, in which the electron-withdrawing group of the acceptor faced to the nitrogen atom of the enamine (case of acceptors 10, methyl methacrylate, 24, 28, 43, 47, and 49) largely prevails over the "exo-approach" 59 (case of acceptor 38). This predominant "endo-preference" can be reasonably interpreted in terms of a cooperative effect between steric and stereoelectronic factors.     

Stability study of simvastatin under hydrolytic conditions assessed by liquid chromatography

In this work, a liquid chromatography stability-indicating method was developed and applied to study the hydrolytic behavior of simvastatin in different pH values and temperatures. The selected chromatographic conditions were a C18 column; acetonitrile-28 mM phosphate buffer solution, pH 4 (65 + 35) as the mobile phase; 251 degrees C column temperature; and flow rate 1 mL/min. The developed method exhibited an adequate repeatability and reproducibility (coefficient of variation 0.54 and 0.74%, respectively) and a recovery higher than 98%. Furthermore, the detection and quantification limits were 9.1 x 10(-7) and 2.8 x 10(-6) M, respectively. The degradation of simvastatin fitted to pseudo-first order kinetics. The degradation was pH dependent, being much higher at alkaline pH than at acid pH. Activation energy, kinetic rate constants (k) at different temperatures, the half life (t1/2) and the time for 10% degradation to occur (t90) values are also reported.     

Bis(o-nitrophenyl)ethanediol: A practical photolabile protecting group for ketones and aldehydes

The ketals of bis(o-nitrophenyl)ethanediol and ketones or aldehydes are smoothly deprotected in neutral conditions by irradiation with 350 nm light. The chemical stability in basic, acidic, and oxidizing media makes this form of protection orthogonal to classical protecting groups. Both racemic and enantiopure forms are readily available in two steps from inexpensive starting materials.     

Mimicking the two-dimensional spectrochemical series using density functional computations

With tetragonal distortions of tetrahedral d2 complexes as examples, nonadditive and additive ligand fields are compared computationally, using Kohn-Sham density functional theory (KS-DFT) and ligand-field theory to obtain 45 linear, parametrical equations. For each complex, a "data" reduction from three nonadditive-field parameters to two parameters of the additive field occurs. The complexes V and CrX4- (where X=F, Cl, Br, I) provide the two-dimensional spectrochemical series of the sigma and pi AOM parameters, which are known semiempirically for the halide ligands. The same parametrical results can be obtained from the Kohn-Sham orbital energies of the "average of configuration" computation.     

Préparation,configuration et réduction électrochimique d'α-cyano β-nitrostyrènes. Synthèse d'amino-5 isoxazoles

Z α-Cyano-β-nitrostyrenes were prepared by nitration with dinitrogentetroxide of the corresponding α-cyanostyrenes. Elsomers were obtained by photoirradiation of Z isomers. The electrochemical reduction of these cyanonitro compounds generates the α-cyanooximes which lead, according to the experimental conditions(ring closure or hydrolysis), either to 5-aminoisoxazoles or to β-ketonitriles.