Oxidative additions of alkynyl/vinyl iodides to gold and gold-catalyzed vinylation reactions triggered by the MeDalphos ligand

The hemilabile Ad₂P(o-C₆H₄)NMe₂ ligand promotes fast, quantitative and irreversible oxidative addition of alkynyl and vinyl iodides to gold. The reaction is general. It works with a broad range of substrates of various electronic bias and steric demand, and proceeds with complete retention of stereochemistry from Z and E vinyl iodides. Both alkynyl and vinyl iodides react faster than aryl iodides. The elementary step is amenable to catalysis. Oxidative addition of vinyl iodides to gold and π-activation of alkenols (and N-alkenyl amines) at gold have been combined to achieve hetero-vinylation reactions. A number of functionalized heterocycles, i.e. tetrahydrofuranes, tetrahydropyranes, oxepanes and pyrrolidines were obtained thereby (24 examples, 87% average yield). Taking advantage of the chemoselectivity for vinyl iodides over aryl iodides, sequential transformations involving first a hetero-vinylation step and then a C–N coupling, a C–C coupling or an heteroarylation were achieved from a vinyl/aryl bis-iodide substrate.

The hemilabile Ad₂P(o-C₆H₄)NMe₂ ligand promotes fast, quantitative and irreversible oxidative addition of alkynyl and vinyl iodides to gold.     

Exciton diffusion and interfacial charge separation in meso-tetraphenylporphyrin/TiO2 bilayers: effect of ethyl substituents

The photoinduced charge separation efficiency in porphyrin/TiO2 bilayers has been determined using the time-resolved microwave conductivity (TRMC) technique. Porphyrins investigated are unsubstituted meso-tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) and meso-tetra(4-ethylphenyl)porphyrin (TEPP). TEPP/TiO2 bilayers exhibit a charge separation efficiency per incident photon at the Soret band maximum of 6.2%, which is considerably higher than the efficiency of 1.2% found for TPP/TiO2 bilayers. Exciton diffusion lengths of 7 A for TPP and 75 A for TEPP are obtained from fitting a model for the charge separation efficiency to the experimental data. Optical measurements on the porphyrin derivatives on quartz yield a 20 times higher fluorescence quantum yield and a 7 times higher fluorescence rate constant for TEPP layers as compared to TPP layers. The exciton lifetime of 800 ps found for TEPP layers is considerably longer than the lifetime of 260 ps in TPP layers. The exciton diffusion coefficients, determined from the exciton diffusion length and the exciton lifetime, are found to be 2.10(-9) m(2)/s for TPP and 7.10(-8) m(2)/s for TEPP. The difference is discussed in terms of the presence of face-to-face dimers or larger aggregates in TPP layers.     

Direct observation of cations and polynucleotides explains polyion adsorption to like-charged surfaces

We show an experimental approach for directly observing the condensation of polynucleotides and their electrolyte counterions at a liquid/solid interface. X-ray standing waves (XSW) generated by Bragg diffraction from a d = 20 nm Si/Mo multilayer substrate are used to measure the distinct distribution profiles of the polyanions and simple cations along the surface normal direction with subnanometer resolution. The 1D spatial sensitivity of this approach is enhanced by observing the XSW induced fluorescence modulations over multiple orders of Bragg peaks. We study the interesting divalent cation driven adsorption of anionic polynucleotides to anionic surfaces by exposing a hydroxyl-terminated silica surface to an aqueous solution with ZnCl2 and mercurated poly-uridylic acid (a synthetic RNA molecule). The in situ long-period XSW measurements are used to follow the evolution of both the Zn and Hg distribution profiles during the adsorption process. The conditions and physical mechanisms that govern the observed divalent cation adsorption and subsequent polynucleotide adsorption to an anionic surface are explained by a thermodynamic model that incorporates nonlinear electrostatic effects.     

Nanostructured ZrO2 and Zr‐C‐N Coatings from Chemical Vapor Deposition of Metal‐Organic Precursors

Nanocrystalline zirconium carbonitride (Zr‐C‐N) and zirconium oxide (ZrO₂) films were deposited by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of zirconium‐tetrakis‐diethylamide (Zr(NEt₂)₄) and ‐tert‐butyloxide (Zr(OBu^t)₄), respectively. The films were deposited on iron substrates and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Zr‐C‐N films show blue, golden brown or bronze colours, with colour stability depending upon the precursor composition (pure metal amide or mixed with Et₂NH). The deposition temperature showed no pronounced effect on the granular morphology of the Zr‐C‐N films. The XRD data of the films correspond to the formation of carbonitride phase whereas the XPS analyses revealed a strong surface oxidation and incorporation of oxygen in the film. The films deposited using a mixture of Zr(NEt₂)₄ and Et₂NH showed higher N content, better adhesion and scratch resistance when compared to films obtained from the CVD of pure Zr(NEt₂)₄. Subject to the precursor composition and deposition temperature (550‐750 °C), the microhardness values of Zr‐C‐N films were found to be in the range 2.11‐5.65 GPa. For ZrO₂ films, morphology and phase composition strongly depend on the deposition temperature. The CVD deposits obtained at 350 °C show tetragonal ZrO₂ to be the only crystalline phase. Upon increasing the deposition temperature to 450 °C, a mixture of tetragonal and monoclinic modifications was formed with morphology made up of interwoven elongated grains. At higher temperatures (550 and 650 °C), pure monoclinic phase was obtained with facetted grains and developed texture.     

Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry using atmospheric pressure photoionization for high-resolution analyses of corticosteroids

Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICRMS) was coupled with atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) for the first time and used for the analysis of several corticosteroids.1 The analytes showed excellent response using APPI when compared with both electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI). APPI has the advantage of requiring less heat for desolvation, resulting in less thermal degradation of the analytes and higher signal-to-noise than APCI. In terms of ultimate sensitivity, APPI is more efficient than either ESI or APCI for the analysis of corticosteroids. With some compounds, the high-resolution capability of FTICRMS was necessary to obtain an accurate mass due to contributions of the M(+.) (13)C isotope in the [M+H](+) ion peak.     

Formation,preservation, and cleavage of the disulfide bond by vanadium

Reaction of the disulfide [HpicanS](2) (HpicanS is the carboxamide based on picolinate (pic) and o-mercaptoaniline (anS); the [] brackets are used to denote disulfides) with [VOCl(2)(thf)(2)] leads to reductive scission of the disulfide bond and formation of the mixed-valence (V(IV)/V(V)) complex anion [(OVpicanS)(2)mu-O](-) (1), with the dianionic ligand coordinating through the pyridine-N atom, the deprotonated amide-N atom, and thiophenolate-S atom. Reductive cleavage of the SbondS bond is also observed as [VCl(2)(tmeda)(2)] (tmeda=tetramethylethylenediamine) is treated with the disulfides [HsalanS](2) or [HvananS](2) (HsalanS and HvananS are the Schiff bases formed between o-mercaptoaniline and salicylaldehyde (Hsal) or vanillin (Hvan), respectively), yielding the V(III) complexes [VCl(tmeda)(salanS)] (2 a), or [VCl(tmeda)(vananS)] (2 b). The disulfide bond remains intact in the aerial reaction between [HsalanS](2) and [VCl(3)(thf)(3)] to yield the V(V) complex [VOCl[salanS](2)] (3), where (salanS)(2-) coordinates through the two phenolate and one of the imine functions. The S-S bond is also preserved as [VO(van)(2)] or [VO(nap)(2)] (Hnap=2-hydroxynaphthalene-1-carbaldehyde) is treated with bis(2-aminophenyl)disulfide, [anS](2), a reaction which is accompanied by condensation of the aldehyde and the diamine, and complexation of the resulting bis(Schiff bases) [HvananS](2) or [HnapanS](2) to form the complexes [VO[vananS](2)] (4 a) or [VO[napanS](2)] (4 b). In 4 a and 4 b, the phenolate and imine functions, and presumably also one of the disulfide-S atoms, coordinate to V(IV). 2-Mercaptophenyl-2'-pyridinecarboxamide (H(2)picanS) retains its identity in the presence of V(III); reaction between [VCl(3)(thf)(3)] and H(2)picanS yields [V[picanS](2)](-) (5). The dithiophenolate 2,6-bis(mercaptophenylthio)dimethylpyridine (6 a) is oxidized, mediated by VO(2+), to the bis(disulfide) octathiadiaza-cyclo-hexaeicosane 6 b. The relevance of these reactions for the speciation of vanadium under physiological conditions is addressed. [HNEt(3)]-1.0.5 NEt(3,) 3.3 CH(2)Cl(2), [HsalanS](2), [HNEt(3)]-5, and 6 b.4 THF have been characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis.     

Tri- and pentanuclear tungsten-(mu-S)-M clusters (M = W, Cu, Ag)

The thiotungstate [Et4N]2[OW(WS4)2], [Et4N]2.1, containing the linear [[S2W(VI)(mu-S)2]2W(IV)=O] core, was prepared from [Et4N]2[WS4] in the presence of the sulfide scavenger Cd2+. Addition of 1,2-bis(o-diphenylphosphinophenyl)ethane (diphosphine) and Cu+ or Ag+ to solutions of 1 in MeCN/DMF led to coordination of the (diphosphine)Cu/Ag fragments to the terminal sulfido ligands of 1, yielding novel linear pentanuclear, heterometallic clusters [mu-[OW(IV)(DMF)(W(VI)S4)2][M(diphosphine)]2], 2 (M = Cu) and 3 (M = Ag). Along with 2, the trinuclear cluster [[mu-(W(VI)S4)[Cu(diphosphine)(2)]], 4, was also obtained. The molecular and crystal structures of [Et4N]2.1, 2.MeCN, 3.MeCN, and 4.2MeCN.CH2Cl2 have been determined.