Octapalladium Strings Trap C60 and C70 Fullerenes Affording Metal-Chain-Wired Bucky Balls

Reactions of Pd₈ strings supported by meso-Ph₂PCH₂P(Ph)CH₂P(Ph)CH₂PPh₂ (meso-dpmppm) ligands, [Pd₈(meso-dpmppm)₄(L)₂]⁴⁺ (L=CH₃CN ( 1 ), XylNC ( 2 )) with C₆₀ resulted in the exclusive formation of unprecedented metal-chain-wired C₆₀ bucky balls, [{Pd₄(meso-dpmppm)₂(L)}₂(C₆₀)]⁴⁺ (L=CH₃CN ( 11 ), XylNC ( 12 )), in which a C₆₀ fullerene is trapped in the central Pd–Pd junction, as unambiguously established by spectroscopic, X-ray crystallographic, and theoretical techniques. The similar reaction of Pd₈ strings supported by rac-dpmppm, [Pd₈(rac-dpmppm)₄(CH₃CN)₂]⁴⁺ ( 3 ) also afforded a racemic mixture of [{Pd₄((R*,R*)-dpmppm)₂(CH₃CN)}₂(C₆₀)]⁴⁺ ( 13 ) without scrambling the Pd₄ fragments with (R,R)- and (S,S)-dpmppm ligands. Consequently, those of enantiopure chiral Pd₈ strings, [Pd₈((R*,R*)-dpmppm)₄(CH₃CN)₂]⁴⁺, certainly afforded chiral bucky balls of [{Pd₄((R*,R*)-dpmppm)₂(CH₃CN)}₂(C₆₀)]⁴⁺ ( 13 _RR and 13 _SS ), that exhibit mirror-image circular dichroism spectra. The reactions of 1 and 2 were also applied for trapping a C₇₀ fullerene to give 2 : 1 adducts of [{Pd₄(meso-dpmppm)₂(L)}₂(C₇₀)]⁴⁺ (L=CH₃CN ( 21 ), XylNC ( 22 )). These results provide useful information for creating a platform to develop dimensionally and chirality controlled metal–carbon nanocomposite materials.     

Glycosylated tris-bipyridine ferrous complexes as molecular mimics of densely packed glycoclusters on cell surfaces: spatial carbohydrate packing of glycoclusters changes on additions of salts

Tris-bipyridine ferrous complexes having β-lactosides, β-maltosides or α-mannosides with serinol spacers were prepared as molecular mimics of densely packed carbohydrate clusters on cell surfaces. Conformational analysis on these glycosylated complexes were conducted by UV–vis and circular dichroism spectroscopy measurements, which disclosed that the chloride, nitrate and sulfate salts induced the conformational changes of the glycosylated complexes in the anion- and carbohydrate-dependent manners.     

Photoinduced addition and addition–elimination reactions of perfluoroalkyl iodides to electron-deficient olefins

Photoinduced radical perfluoroalkylation of various simple electron-deficient olefins was achieved in the presence of an aqueous Na₂S₂O₃ solution. The reactions proceeded smoothly to give addition or addition–elimination products. The ability of the products to be used as radical precursors or Michael acceptors was also demonstrated.     

(E)‐,(Z)‐Parallel Preparative Methods for Stereodefined β,β‐Diaryl‐ and α,β‐Diaryl‐α,β‐unsaturated Esters: Application to the Stereocomplementary Concise Synthesis of Zimelidine

Parallel and practical methods for the preparation of both (E)‐ and (Z)‐β‐aryl¹‐β‐aryl²‐α,β‐unsaturated esters 1 and (E)‐ and (Z)‐α‐aryl¹‐β‐aryl²‐α,β‐unsaturated esters 2 are described. These methods involve accessible, robust, stereocomplementary N‐methylimidazole (NMI)‐mediated enol tosylations (14 examples, 70–99 % yield), as well as stereoretentive Suzuki–Miyaura cross‐couplings (36 examples, 64–99 % yield). The highlighted feature of the present protocol is the use of parallel and stereocomplementary approaches to obtain highly (E)‐ and (Z)‐pure products 1 and 2 by utilizing sequential enol tosylations and cross‐coupling reactions. An expeditious and parallel synthesis of (E)‐ and (Z)‐zimelidine ( 3 ), which is a highly representative selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), was performed by utilizing the present methods.     

Synthesis of Glycocinnasperimicin D

The first total synthesis of amino sugar antibiotic glycocinnasperimicin D ( 1 ) has been achieved by a convergent, three‐component coupling strategy. The key steps involve the Heck–Mizoroki reaction by using the iodophenyl glycoside 50 and acryl amide 32 to furnish the right core structure of 1 , and the construction of the urea glycoside employing the reaction of glycosyl isocyanate 8 with amino sugar 9 . Glycosyl isocyanate 8 was prepared by the oxidation of isonitrile 10 , which displayed excellent reactivity in the coupling event. Synthetic roadblocks, encountered during this synthetic effort, have led to the development of the α‐selective, Lewis acid catalyzed phenyl glycosylation process with 2‐amino‐hexopyranose and a procedure for acetonide deprotection without affecting the silyl ethers.     

Catalytic asymmetric desymmetrization of meso-diamide derivatives through enantioselective N-allylation with a chiral pi-allyl Pd catalyst: improvement and reversal of the enantioselectivity

In the presence of the Trost ligands-Pd catalysts, N-monoallylation of bis(2,4,6-triisopropylbenzne)sulfonylamides derived from meso-1,2-diamines proceeds with good to excellent enantioselectivity (85-96% ee) to give asymmetric desymmetrization products. Under the same conditions, in the reaction with meso-bistolunesulfonylamide derivatives, reversal of the enantioselectivity is observed.     

Thiocyanate hydrolase is a cobalt-containing metalloenzyme with a cysteine-sulfinic acid ligand

Thiocyanate hydrolase (SCNase) purified from Thiobacillus thioparus THI115 hydrolyzes thiocyanate to carbonyl sulfide and ammonia. DNA sequences of the cloned genes revealed the close relation of SCNase to nitrile hydratase (NHase). The consensus sequences for coordination of the metal ion found in NHases were also conserved in the gamma subunit of SCNase. Here, we showed that the SCNase contained one cobalt atom per alphabetagamma heterotrimer. UV-vis absorption spectrum suggested that the cobalt exists as a non-corrin ion. Reduced SCNase showed an ESR signal characteristic of low-spin Co2+, which closely resembled that of the Co-type NHases. Mass spectrometry for the peptide fragment containing the metal-binding motif of the SCNase gamma subunit indicated that the cysteine residue at position 131 was post-translationally oxidized to a cysteine-sulfinic acid. From these results, we concluded that SCNases and NHases form a novel non-corrin and/or non-heme protein family having post-translationally modified cysteine ligands.     

New efficient organic activators for highly enantioselective reduction of aromatic ketones by trichlorosilane

[reaction: see text] Aryl ketones were reduced to the corresponding alcohols with excellent enantioselectivity (up to 99.7% ee) by Cl3SiH in the presence of a catalytic amount of N-formyl-alpha'-(2,4,6-triethylphenyl)-L-proline as an activator. Both carboxyl group at the alpha-position of the activator and 2,4,6-triethylphenyl group at the alpha'-position were critical for the high enantioselectivity.