rac‐1‐Phenyl­ethyl­ammonium carboxy­methyl­phospho­nate(1–): hydrogen‐bonded anion sheets with pendent cations

In the title compound, C₈H₁₂N⁺·C₂H₄O₅P⁻, the anions are linked by two O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds [H⋯O both 1.75 Å, O⋯O = 2.5781 (15) and 2.5834 (15) Å, and O—H⋯O = 169 and 176°] into sheets built from alternating (8) and (32) rings. Each cation is linked to an anion sheet by three N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds [H⋯O = 1.88–2.04 Å, N⋯O = 2.7603 (16)–2.9334 (17) Å and N—H⋯O = 162–166°], such that all the cations pendent from one face of the sheet are of the R configuration, while all those pendent from the opposite face are of the S configuration.     

Pd‐PEPPSI‐IPent: An Active,Sterically Demanding Cross‐Coupling Catalyst and Its Application in the Synthesis of Tetra‐Ortho‐Substituted Biaryls

Incredible Bulk : A series of N‐heterocyclic carbene catalysts (see picture) were prepared and evaluated in the Suzuki–Miyaura reaction. A variety of sterically encumbered tetra‐ortho‐substituted biaryl products were formed from unreactive aryl chlorides using the isopentyl‐substituted catalyst at temperatures ranging from 65 °C to room temperature. The cyclopentyl‐substituted catalyst was virtually inactive, demonstrating that “flexible bulk” is essential to promote these transformations.

     

Carbene vs olefin products of C-H activation on ruthenium via competing alpha- and beta-H elimination

Bulky pincer complexes of ruthenium are capable of C-H activation and H-elimination from the pincer ligand backbone to produce mixtures of olefin and carbene products. To characterize the products and determine the mechanisms of the C-H cleavage, reactions of [RuCl(2)(p-cymene)](2) with N,N'-bis(di-tert-butylphosphino)-1,3-diaminopropane (L1) and 1,3-bis(di-tert-butylphosphinomethyl)cyclohexane (L2) were studied using a combination of X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, and DFT computational techniques. The reaction of L1 afforded a mixture of an alkylidene, a Fischer carbene, and two olefin isomers of the 16-e monohydride RuHCl[(t)Bu(2)PNHC(3)H(4)NHPBu(t)(2)] (2), whereas the reaction of L2 gave two olefin and two alkylidene isomers of 16-e RuHCl[2,6-(CH(2)PBu(t)(2))(2)C(6)H(8)] (3), all resulting from dehydrogenations of the ligand backbone of L1 and L2. The key intermediates implicated in the C-H activation reactions were identified as 14-electron paramagnetic species RuCl(PCP), where PCP = cyclometalated L1 or L2. Thus the alpha- and beta-H elimination reactions of RuCl(PCP) involved spin change and were formally spin-forbidden. Hydrogenation of 2 and 3 afforded 16-electron dihydrides RuH(2)Cl(PCP) distinguished by a large quantum exchange coupling between the hydrides.     

Neutral high-potential nickel triad bisdithiolenes: structure and solid-state NMR properties of Pt[S2C2(CF3)2]2

X-ray crystallography and solid-state NMR techniques were used to determine the structure and 195Pt NMR chemical shift (CS) tensor of Pt[S2C2(CF3)2]2. This is the first reported crystal structure of a highly oxidizing (CN- or CF3-substituted) neutral bis(dithiolene) complex of a Ni triad metal in its pure form. The 195Pt NMR CS tensor is highly anisotropic and asymmetric; the latter property is attributed to the noninnocent nature of the ligand. The tensor components and orientation are determined with density functional theory calculations.     

Easily prepared air- and moisture-stable Pd-NHC (NHC=N-heterocyclic carbene) complexes: a reliable, user-friendly, highly active palladium precatalyst for the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction

The synthesis of NHC-PdCl(2)-3-chloropyridine (NHC=N-heterocyclic carbene) complexes from readily available starting materials in air is described. The 2,6-diisopropylphenyl derivative was found to be highly catalytically active in alkyl-alkyl Suzuki and Negishi cross-coupling reactions. The synthesis, ease-of-use, and activity of this complex are substantial improvements over in situ catalyst generation and all current Pd-NHC complexes. The utilization of complex 4 led to the development of a reliable, easily employed Suzuki-Miyama protocol. Employing various reaction conditions allowed a large array of hindered biaryl and drug-like heteroaromatic compounds to be synthesized without difficulty.     

Bidirectional photocontrol of peptide conformation with a bridged azobenzene derivative

It goes both ways: A thiol-reactive cross-linker based on a bridged azobenzene derivative permits photoreversible control of peptide conformation on irradiation with violet (407?nm) and green (500-550?nm) light (see picture) through isomerization of the cross-linker. The large separation of the absorbance bands of the cis (yellow) and trans (red) isomers enables complete bidirectional photoswitching.     

Hydrogen‐bonded bilayers in ­piperazinium(2+) bis(mandelate) bis(methanol) solvate

In the title compound, C₄H₁₂N₂²⁺·2C₈H₇O₃^?·2CH₄O, the cations lie across centres of inversion and are disordered over two orientations with equal occupancy; there are equal numbers of (R)‐ and (S)‐mandelate anions present (mandelate is α‐hydroxy­benzene­acetate). The anions and the neutral water mol­ecules are linked by O—H?O hydrogen bonds [O?O 2.658 (3) and 2.682 (3) Å, and O—H?O 176 and 166°] into deeply folded zigzag chains. Each orientation of the cation forms two symmetry‐related two‐centre N—H?O hydrogen bonds [N?O 2.588 (4) and 2.678 (4) Å, and N—H?O 177 and 171°] and two asymmetric, but planar, three‐centre N—H?(O)₂ hydrogen bonds [N?O 2.686 (4)–3.137 (4) Å and N—H?O 137–147°], and by means of these the cations link the anion/water chains into bilayers.     

Hydro­gen‐bonded adducts of ferrocene‐1,1′‐diyl­bis­(di­phenyl­methanol): monomeric and dimeric 1:1 adducts with 1,2‐bis(4‐pyridyl)­ethane and 1,2‐­diamino­ethane

In ferrocene‐1,1′‐diyl­bis­(di­phenyl­methanol)–4,4′‐ethyl­enedi­pyridine (1/1), [Fe(C₁₈H₁₅O)₂]·C₁₂H₁₂N₂, there is an intra­molecular O—H?O hydrogen bond in the ferrocenediol component and a single O—H?N hydrogen bond linking the two components into a finite monomeric adduct. Ferrocene‐1,1′‐diyl­bis­(di­phenyl­methanol)–ethyl­enedi­amine (1/1), [Fe(C₁₈H₁₅O)₂]·C₂H₈N₂, crystallizes with Z′ = 2 in space group P, and there are two independent four‐component aggregates in the structure, both of which are centrosymmetric. In the first type of aggregate, the molecular components are linked by O—H?N and N—H?O hydrogen bonds, in which both di­amine N atoms participate; in the second type of aggregate, the di­amine component is disordered over two sets of sites, but only one N atom is involved in the hydrogen bonding.