A new method for the catalytic aldol reaction to ketones

A new method for the catalytic aldol reaction to ketones, using CuF.3PPh3.2EtOH complex as the catalyst and (EtO)3SiF as the additive, is described. The reaction can be applied to a wide range of ketones and trimethylsilyl enolates. On the basis of mechanistic studies, a working hypothesis for the catalytic cycle is proposed, in which the dynamic ligand exchange mediated by copper silicates produces the active copper enolate. Moreover, the present reaction can be extended to the catalytic enantioselective reaction using tol-BINAP as a chiral ligand.     

Asymmetric reductive Mannich reaction to ketimines catalyzed by a Cu(I) complex

A highly diastereoselective reductive Mannich coupling of ketimines and alpha,beta-unsaturated esters was developed using CuOAc-PPh(3) or CuOAc-MePPh(2) complex as a catalyst (5 mol %) and pinacolborane as a reducing reagent. The reaction was easily conducted at room temperature, and the substrate generality was broad. This platform methodology was extended to the first catalytic asymmetric reductive Mannich reaction of ketimines using CuOAc-DIFLUORPHOS as the catalyst (10 mol %). Switching the reducing reagent from pinacolborane to (EtO)(3)SiH was key to inducing the high enantioselectivity (82-93% ee). High diastereoselectivity was also maintained (3:1 approximately 30:1). Thus, products containing contiguous tetra- and trisubstituted carbons were catalytically synthesized with high stereoselectivities. Products were converted to alpha,beta,beta-trisubstituted (beta(2,3,3)) amino acid derivatives without any racemization and epimerization through simple treatment under acidic conditions. This method is the first entry of the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of beta(2,3,3)-amino acid derivatives, which constitute important chiral building blocks of biologically significant molecules.     

Chemoselective aerobic oxidation catalyzed by a metal/stable organoradical redox conjugate

This review summarizes recent advances of catalytic chemoselective aerobic oxidations promoted by a metal/stable organoradical redox conjugate. The sophisticated system exhibits high activity and chemoselectivity and is recently applied to late-stage transformations for complex natural product synthesis and a polypeptide transformation. The characteristics of the catalytic system are likely due to the unique mechanism ([1e + 1e] oxidation), which takes intrinsic advantages of cooperative work of first-row transition metals and stable organoradicals (radical-conjugated redox catalysis).     

Role of metal matrix modifier in ashing and beginning of the atomization process in graphite furnace-atomic absorption spectrometry

Summary It has been shown that Pb, Sn and In form alloys with the Pd matrix modifier during the ashing and the beginning of the atomization process in graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry.Pb and Sn were chosen as analytes and Ag, Sb, Cu, Au, Pt, Pd, Cd, and Mg as co-existing elements or matrix modifiers. The activity coefficients of Pb in the alloys Pb-Ag and Pb-Sb are similar to the value of Pb alone (or about 1.0), and those in the alloys Pb-Au, Pb-Pt and Pb-Mg are lower than the value of 1.0; in particular the activity coefficients of Sn in the alloy Sn-Pd is extremely low. The activity coefficients of Pb in the alloys Pb-Cd and Pb-Cu are higher than 1.0.The movement of volatilization to higher effective temperatures in the atomization were studied; it was found that: 1) Where the activity coefficient of the analyte was lower than 1.0, intermetallic compounds were formed and the atomization shifted to higher temperatures. 2) Atomization was not altered (even though the activity coefficients were different from 1.0) if the modifier elements formed alloys with Pb, which had melting temperatures lower than the ashing and the initial temperatures of the atomization of Pb. 3) For metals such as Mg, which are neither reduced to metal nor form alloys with the analyte during the ashing and the atomization process, the role as matrix modifier is different, as has also been studied herein.     

Catalytic enantioselective allylboration of ketones

The first example of catalytic enantioselective allylboration and crotylboration of simple ketones is described. High enantioselectivity (up to 93% ee) was obtained using 3 mol % CuF-iPr-DuPHOS as a chiral catalyst and 4.5 mol % La(OiPr)3 as a cocatalyst. Mechanistic studies strongly suggested that the active nucleophile of the present reaction is an allylcopper, and that La(OiPr)3 facilitates the generation of an active allylcopper from the allylboronate, without affecting the transition-state structure of the ketone allylation step.     

Ligand effect on reversible conversion between copper(I) and bis(mu-oxo)dicopper(III) complex with a sterically hindered tetradentate tripodal ligand and monooxygenase activity of bis(mu-oxo)dicopper(III) complex

A new sterically hindered tetradentate tripodal ligand (Me2-etpy) and its labeled analogue having deuterated methylene groups (d4-Me2-etpy) were synthesized, where Me2-etpy is bis(6-methyl-2-pyridylmethyl)(2-pyridylethyl)amine. Copper(I) complexes [Cu(Me2-etpy or d4-Me2-etpy)]+ (1 and 1-d4, respectively) reacted with dioxygen at -80 degrees C in acetone to give bis(mu-oxo)dicopper(III) complexes [Cu2(O)2(Me2-etpy or d4-Me2-etpy)2](2+) (1-oxo and 1-d4-oxo, respectively), the latter of which was crystallographically characterized. Unlike a bis(mu-oxo)dicopper(III) complex with a closely related Me2-tpa ligand having a 2-pyridylmethyl pendant, 1-oxo possessing a 2-pyridylethyl pendant is not fully formed even under 1 atm of O2 at -80 degrees C and is very reactive toward the oxidation of the supporting ligand. Thermal decomposition of 1-oxo gave an N-dealkylated ligand in yield approximately 80% based on a dimer and a corresponding aldehyde. The deuterated ligand d4-Me2-etpy greatly stabilizes the bis(mu-oxo)dicopper(III) complex 1-d4-oxo, indicating that the rate determining step of the N-dealkylation is the C-H bond cleavage from the methylene group. The reversible conversion between 1-d4 and 1-d4-oxo in acetone is dependent on the temperature, and the thermodynamic parameters (DeltaH and DeltaS) of the equilibrium were determined to be -53 +/- 2 kJ mol(-1) and -187 +/- 10 J mol(-1) K(-1), respectively. The effect of the 2-pyridylethyl pendant in comparison with the 2-pyridylmethyl and 6-methyl-2-pyridylmethyl pendants on the physicochemical properties of the copper(I) and bis(mu-oxo)dicopper(III) species is discussed.