Another Unprecedented Wieland Mechanism Confirmed: Hydrogen Formation from Hydrogen Peroxide,Formaldehyde, and Sodium Hydroxide

In 1923, Wieland and Wingler reported that in the molecular hydrogen producing reaction of hydrogen peroxide with formaldehyde in basic solution, free hydrogen atoms (H^.) are not involved. They postulated that bis(hydroxymethyl)peroxide, HOCH₂OOCH₂OH, is the intermediate, which decomposes to yield H₂ and formate, proposing a mechanism that would nowadays be considered as a “concerted process”. Since then, several other (conflicting) “mechanisms” have been suggested. Our NMR and Raman spectroscopic and kinetic studies, particularly the determination of the deuterium kinetic isotope effect (DKIE), now confirm that in this base‐dependent reaction, both H atoms of H₂ derive from the CH₂ hydrogen atoms of formaldehyde, and not from the OH groups of HOCH₂OOCH₂OH or from water. Quantum‐chemical CBS‐QB3 and W1BD computations show that H₂ release proceeds through a concerted process, which is strongly accelerated by double deprotonation of HOCH₂OOCH₂OH, thereby ruling out a free radical pathway.     

Total Synthesis of Tambromycin by Combining Chemocatalytic and Biocatalytic C−H Functionalization

A combination of genomic and metabolomic approaches recently resulted in the identification of a nonribosomal tetrapeptide tambromycin, which possesses promising antiproliferative activity and several unusual structural features, including a densely substituted indole, a methyloxazoline ring, and an unusual pyrrolidine‐containing amino acid called tambroline. In this work, we identify a concise synthetic route to access tambromycin, which relies on the strategic use of biocatalytic and chemocatalytic C?H functionalization methods to prepare two key precursors to the natural product in an efficient and scalable manner. The success of our study highlights the benefits of applying the principles of biocatalytic retrosynthesis as well as C?H functionalization logic to the synthesis of complex molecular scaffolds.     

Spirocyclic bisphenoxides of Ge,Zr, and Sn as catalysts for ring-expansion polymerizations of l- and meso-lactide

Spirocyclic phenoxides of germanium, zirconium, and tin were prepared from 2,2′-dihydroxybiphenyl and 2,2′-dihydroxy-1,1′-binaphthyl. Ring-expansion polymerizations of l -lactide are mainly studied at 160 or 180 °C. The reactivity of the catalysts increases in the order: Zr < Ge < Sn. Regardless of catalyst, the weight-average molecular weights (M_w) never exceed 50,000 g mol⁻¹. The resulting poly(l -lactide)s are optically pure and have a cyclic architecture. Decreasing temperature and time favor formation of even-numbered cycles, and at 102° cyclics, almost free of odd-numbered rings are obtained. Analogous polymerizations of meso-lactide give similar results >120 °C, but different results at 100 or 80 °C. Surprisingly, bell-shaped narrow molecular weight distributions are obtained <140 °C, resembling the pattern of living polymerizations found for alcohol-initiated polymerizations. An unusual transesterification mechanism yielding narrow distributions of odd-numbered cycles is discovered too. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018 , 56, 2730–2738     

Synthesis and Biological Activity of Oxidation Products of the Antiprogestine Mifepristone

Summary.  Selenium dioxide oxidation allows the selective introduction of a hydroxyl group at position 6 of the steroid skeleton of the antihormone (11β, 17β)-11-(4-dimethylamino-phenyl)-17-hydroxyl-17-(1-propynyl)-estra-4,9-dien-3-one (mifepristone, RU 486) and leads in a one-step procedure to two diastereomeric oxidation products. Their structure (6α- and 6β-hydroxy-mifepristone) was determined by NMR spectroscopy. The antiprogestinic activity of the oxidation products is comparable to that of mifepristone. Received August 25, 2000. Accepted (revised) October 24, 2000     

A systematic theoretical investigation of the valence excited states of the diatomic molecules B2, C2, N2 and O2

A quantitative survey on the performance of multireference (MR), configuration interaction with all singles and doubles (CISD), MRCISD with the Davidson correction and MR-average quadratic coupled cluster (AQCC) methods for a wide range of excited states of the diatomic molecules B₂, C₂, N₂ and O₂ is presented. The spectroscopic constants r _e, ω_e, T _e and D _e for a total of 60 states have been evaluated and critically compared with available experimental data. Basis set extrapolations and size-extensivity corrections are essential for highly accurate results: MR-AQCC mean-errors of 0.001 ?, 10 cm⁻¹, 300 cm⁻¹ and 300 cm⁻¹ have been obtained for r _e, ω_e, T _e and D _e, respectively. Owing to the very systematic behavior of the results depending on the basis set and the choice of method, shortcomings of the calculations, such as Rydberg state coupling or insufficient configuration spaces, can be identified independently of experimental data. On the other hand, significant discrepancies with experiment for states which indicate no shortcomings whatsoever in the theoretical treatment suggest the re-evaluation of experimental results. The broad variety of states included in our survey and the uniform quality of the results indicate that the observed systematics is a general feature of the methods and, hence, is molecule-independent. Received: 12 June 2000 / Accepted: 1 September 2000 / Published online: 21 December 2000     

The Electroviscous Behavior of Aqueous Dispersions of Amorphous Silica (Ludox)

The electroviscous effects in very dilute aqueous dispersions of amorphous silica (Ludox) were investigated at various levels of salt, pH, and volume fraction (<0.01) of solids. Viscosities were much higher than predicted from existing theories, which is ascribed to the formation of a thick, gel-like surface layer on the particle. The volume of a particle adjusts itself almost reversibly to the salt and pH levels of the liquid and can grow up to four times the dry volume. This explains the apparent discrepancy between published dry and wet particle sizes and also the reported anomalously large number of bound water layers around a particle. The existence of a gel layer leads to an abnormally large amount of surface conductance; this may explain the anomalities found in electrophoresis. The validity of the model is also supported by published results of the amount of nonbulk water as found with NMR. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Novel heterocyclic inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases: three 6H‐1,3,4‐thiadiazines

The title compounds, (2S)‐N‐[5‐(4‐chloro­phenyl)‐2,3‐di­hydro‐6H‐1,3,4‐thia­diazin‐2‐yl­idene]‐2‐[(phenyl­sulfonyl)­amino]­pro­pan­amide, C₁₈H₁₇ClN₄O₃S₂, (I), (2R)‐N‐[5‐(4‐fluoro­phenyl)‐6H‐1,3,4‐thia­diazin‐2‐yl]‐2‐[(phenyl­sulfonyl)amino]­propan­amide, C₁₈H₁₇FN₄O₃S₂, (II), and (2S)‐N‐[5‐(5‐chloro‐2‐thienyl)‐6H‐1,3,4‐thia­diazin‐2‐yl]‐2‐[(phenyl­sulfonyl)­amino]­propan­amide, C₁₆H₁₅ClN₄O₃S₃, (III), are potent inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases. In all three compounds, the thia­diazine ring adopts a screw‐boat conformation. The mol­ecules of compound (I) show a short intramolecular N_Ala—H?N_exo hydrogen bond [N?N 2.661 (3) Å] and are linked into a chain along the c axis by N_endo—H?S_endo and N_endo—H?O_Ala hydrogen bonds [N?S 3.236 (3) and N?O 3.375 (3) Å] between neighbouring mol­ecules. In compound (II), the mol­ecules are connected antiparallel into a chain along the a axis by N_exo—H?O_Ala and N_Ala—H?N_endo hydrogen bonds [N?O 2.907 (6) and N?N 2.911 (6) Å]. The mol­ecules of compound (III) are dimerized antiparallel through N_exo—H?N_endo hydrogen bonds [N?N 2.956 (7) and 2.983 (7) Å]. The different hydrogen‐bonding patterns can be explained by an amido–imino tautomerism (prototropic shift) shown by different bond lengths within the 6H‐1,3,4‐thia­diazine moiety.     

Zur Darstellung phosphido‐chalkogenido‐verbrückter Dirheniumkomplexe vom Typ Re2(μ‐PCy2)(μ‐ER)(CO)8 (E = S,Se, Te; R = org. Rest)

Synthesis of Phosphido Chalcogenido Bridged Dirhenium Complexes of the Type Re₂(μ‐PCy₂)(μ‐ER)(CO)₈ (E = S, Se, Te; R = org. Residue) The reaction of Re₂(μ‐Br)(μ‐PCy₂)(CO)₈ with nucleophiles MER (M = Na, Li; E = S, Se, Te; R = org. residue) gives via substitution of the bromido bridge phosphido chalcogenido bridged dirhenium complexes of the general formula Re₂(μ‐PCy₂)(μ‐ER)(CO)₈. The new compounds were characterized by IR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopic data and by elemental analyses. In addition the molecular structures for E = S, Se, Te and R = Ph as well as for E = S and R = H, n‐Bu, 2‐pyridyl have been established by single crystal X‐ray analysis. ¹³C NMR spectra of Re₂(μ‐PCy₂)(μ‐EPh)(CO)₈ (E = S, Se, Te) prove that the sulfur and selenium compounds are at room temperature dynamic molecules due to inversion of the pyramidal chalcogenido bridge. The tellurium compound, however, is rigid on the time scale of ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. Eventually the reactivity of the SH function of the novel complex Re₂(μ‐PCy₂)(μ‐SH)(CO)₈ was investigated by reaction with Re₂(CO)₈(MeCN)₂. In toluene at 90 °C the novel spirocyclic complex Re₂(μ‐PCy₂)(CO)₈(μ₄‐S)Re₂(μ‐H)(CO)₈ was formed by SH oxidative addition.     

Raman Optical Activity of a Purely σ‐Bonded Helical Chromophore: (−)‐(M)‐σ‐[4]Helicene

The recent synthesis of enantiomerically pure (−)‐(M)‐σ‐[4]helicene has provided an archetype helical model system for vibrational optical activity, comparable to what π‐helicenes represent in the field of electronic optical activity. We present the first measurements and the first calculations of the Raman optical activity (ROA) of this interesting molecule. Observed and calculated ROA is large throughout the vibrational spectrum, in agreement with expectations, and spectacular effects, with Δ values close to 0.5%, occur in the 900‐cm⁻¹ region. Agreement between the experimental spectrum and the theoretical one, calculated with density‐functional theory for the vibrational part and Hartree‐Fock linear response theory for the molecular electronic tensors, is excellent, clearly the best that has been achieved to date in the field. This allows us to place confidence in the results of an analysis of Raman and ROA scattering generation in the molecule, obtained by a newly developed graphical procedure for extracting this kind of information from ab initio calculations. One finds that relative contributions made by carbon and hydrogen atoms can be comparable in size, but can also vary considerably, even between closely lying vibrations, and that, for most vibrations, the generation of ROA difference intensity is distributed rather differently than that of Raman intensity over the shape of the molecule. The sign of the ROA is, for the set of vibrations in the 900‐cm⁻¹ region, which we analyze in detail, determined by coupling terms between the two halves of the molecule, while Raman intensity is primarily generated within the two fragments, with coupling terms between them only adding to or substracting from it.