Alkylation of nitroaromatics with tetraalkylborate ion via electrochemical oxidation

Aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction (S(N)Ar) is one of the most thoroughly studied reactions. Alkylation of nitroaromatics with Grignard reagents via chemical oxidation of the sigma(H)-complexes is the most general method to introduce an alkyl group into a nitroaromatic compound. This approach has considerable drawbacks, especially when more than one nitro group are present in the aromatic ring. In this article, we present an electrochemical approach, which offers a new very selective methodology for obtaining alkyl polynitroaromatic compounds. Different strategies based on the use of tetralkylborate anion as nucleophiles are used so as to increase efficiency and to reduce the drawbacks associated with this reaction. A wide list of dinitro- and trinitro-aromatic compounds are studied, the range of yields obtained being from fair (40%) to excellent (85%). The key to improvement in the process is the use of electrochemical techniques for the oxidation of the mixture sigma(H)-complexes/tetrabutylborate ion. The electroactive character of the nucleophile, which can be oxidized to an alkyl radical, means that the S(N)Ar of the hydrogen polar mechanism is not the only mechanism operating during the electroxidation process, since the hydrogen radical S(N)Ar mechanism is running at the same time. Electrochemical mechanistic studies allow the participation of each mechanism in the global product yield obtained to be quantified.     

The Reaction of Triplet State Benzophenone with Acetylacetone

Irradiation of benzophenone in acetic acid containing acetylacetone resulted in regiospecific addition to form cis-2,2-dihpenyl-3-hydroxy-3-methyl-4-acetyloxetane and the rearrangement products therefrom. In the co-presence of copper ions, the regiospecificity is scrambled to give these products and a small amount of 1,1-diphenyl-1-buten-3-one, the secondary decomposition product of the other oxetane arising from the alternative orientation of the addition.     

Immunosuppressive ent‐Kaurene Diterpenoids from Isodon serra

Three new enmein‐type ent‐kaurenoids, i.e., the two pairs 1 and 2 of 20‐epimers and the (20R)‐isomer 3 , besides the seven known diterpenoids 4 – 10 , were isolated from the aerial parts of Isodon serra. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic techniques and X‐ray diffraction. The immunosuppressive effect for T‐lymphocytes proliferation induced by Con A in BALB/c mouse was evaluated for the isolates 1 – 10 . They all displayed a remarkable inhibitory effect, with multi‐glycosides of Tripterygium wilfordii as positive reference substance (Table 3).     

Structure‐Dependent Photoinduced Electron Transfer in Fullerodendrimers with Light‐Harvesting Oligophenylenevinylene Terminals

Oligophenylenevinylene (OPV)‐terminated phenylenevinylene dendrons G1 – G4 with one, two, four, and eight “side‐arms”, respectively, were prepared and attached to C₆₀ by a 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides generated in situ from dendritic aldehydes and N‐methylglycine. The relative electronic absorption of the OPV moiety increases progressively along the fullerodendrimer family C₆₀G1 – C₆₀G4 , reaching a 99:1 ratio for C₆₀G4 (antenna effect). UV/Vis and near‐IR luminescence and transient absorption spectroscopy was used to elucidate photoinduced energy and electron transfer in C₆₀G1 – C₆₀G4 as a function of OPV moiety size and solvent polarity (toluene, dichloromethane, benzonitrile), taking into account the fact that the free‐energy change for electron transfer is the same along the series owing to the invariability of the donor–acceptor couple. Regardless of solvent, all the fullerodendrimers exhibit ultrafast OPV→C₆₀ singlet energy transfer. In CH₂Cl₂, the OPV→C₆₀ electron transfer from the lowest fullerene singlet level (¹C₆₀*) is slightly exergonic (ΔG_CS≈0.07 eV), but is observed, to an increasing extent, only in the largest systems C₆₀G2 – C₆₀G4 with lower activation barriers for electron transfer. This effect has been related to a decrease of the reorganization energy upon enlargement of the molecular architecture. Structural factors are also at the origin of an unprecedented OPV→C₆₀ electron transfer observed for C₆₀G3 and C₆₀G4 in apolar toluene, whereas in benzonitrile, electron transfer occurs in all cases. Monitoring of the lowest fullerene triplet state by sensitized singlet oxygen luminescence and transient absorption spectroscopy shows that this level is populated through intersystem crossing and is not involved in photoinduced electron transfer.     

A zwitterion of 1,5‐bis­(2‐hydroxy­benzamido)‐3‐aza­pentane: a two‐dimensional hydrogen‐bonding network involving dimers

The title compound, 2‐{N‐[2‐(2‐hydroxy­benzamido)ethyl­ammonio­ethyl]amino­carbon­yl}phenolate, C₁₈H₂₁N₃O₄, crystallizes in a zwitterionic form as a result of inter­molecular proton transfer and possesses a negatively charged phenolate group and a protonated amino group. The 2‐hydroxy­benzamide and 2‐(amino­carbonyl)­phenolate moieties attached to the two ends of the C—C—N—C—C backbone adopt a cis conformation in relation to this backbone. All N‐ and O‐bound H atoms are involved in hydrogen‐bond formation; the zwitterions are first linked into head‐to‐tail dimers, which are further organized into a two‐dimensional network parallel to the crystallographic bc plane.     

Synthesis of 2‐Dihydrooxadiazolinyl Chromones

Reactions of the substituted 2‐formyl chromones with aroylhydrazines gave corresponding 2‐(aroylhydrazonomethylidyne) chromones. Then 2‐(3′‐acetyl‐5′‐aryl‐2′,3′‐dihydro‐1′,3′,4′‐oxadiazol‐2′‐yl) chromones were prepared by these 2‐(aroylhydrazonomethylidyne) chromones under refluxing with Ac₂O. All target compounds were characterized through elemental analysis and IR, ¹H NMR, MS.     

An in vitro Study on Transition from NO-Hemoglobin to Methemoglobin： Oxygen Effect

The nitrosyl-hemoglobin (HbNO) is the carrier of nitric oxide (NO) which is the important messenger molecule displaying multiple physiologic and pathophysiologic roles. However it is still not clear for the fate of HbNO molecules during the venous-arterial transit. In this letter, the HbNO transition in vitro was studied by using the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra. It was found that HbNO molecules were stable when oxygen did not exist in the system but not stable in aerobic conditions. The absorption spectra further revealed that the methemoglobin (metHb) was the product of HbNO in aerobic environment, showing that the HbNO changed to metHb when there were enough oxygen molecules in the system.     

New Nitrogenous Bisabolene‐Type Sesquiterpenes from a Hainan Sponge Axinyssa aff. variabilis

Two new uncommon nitrogenous sesquiterpenes, 11‐ethoxy‐3‐formamidotheonellin ( 1 ) and 7‐ethoxy‐3‐formamidobisabolane‐8,10‐diene ( 2 ), together with two known related sesquiterpenes, 3‐formamidotheonellin (=theonellin formamide; 3 ) and theonellin isothiocyanate ( 4 ), were isolated from the Hainan sponge Axinyssa aff. variabilis. Their structures were determined on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis and by comparison of their NMR data with those of known compounds.     

X‐Ray Single Crystal Refinement and Superconductivity of La3Ni2B2N3

Crystalline samples of La₃Ni₂B₂N₃ were synthesized using solid state metathesis reactions from combinations of La, LaCl₃, NiCl₂ together with Li₃BN₂. The structure was determined by single crystal X‐ray diffraction (I4/mmm (No. 139), a = 372.95(2) pm, c = 2056.3(2) pm, R₁ = 0.027, wR₂ = 0.062) and confirmed earlier results from neutron powder diffraction. La₃Ni₂B₂N₃ contains BN units capping square planar Ni layers. Isolated nitrogen atoms reside in La₆ octahedra. Magnetic measurements on several bulk samples exhibit superconductivity at temperatures below 14.6 K.     

GRECP/MRD‐CI calculations on the Hg atom and HgH molecule

Multireference single‐ and double‐excitation configuration interaction (MRD‐CI) calculations of transition energies for the Hg atom and spectroscopic constants for the HgH molecule are carried out with the generalized relativistic effective core potential (GRECP) method. A new selection criterium for the reference configurations is discussed. The calculated spectroscopic constants are compared with experimental data and results of calculations of other groups. Improvement of accuracy is mainly observed for bond lengths from the GRECP/MRD‐CI calculations (without applying the T = 0 correction) with respect to the results of other groups. Analysis of the quality of the approximations employed is carried out. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2002