One-pot esterification and amidation of phenolic acids

We developed a new one-pot reaction of phenolic acids to afford the corresponding esters and amides through acyl-protected and activated phenolic acid intermediates. The simultaneous protection/activation of phenolic acids with alkylchloroformates proceeded readily in the presence of DMAP at room temperature; subsequent addition of alcohols or amines afforded the corresponding esters or amides. The use of iso-butyloxycarbonyl as the protecting and activating group in the one-pot reactions afforded phenolic esters or amides in 91% average yield. As a practical example of this convenient synthesis, caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) was readily synthesized from commercially available caffeic acid and phenethyl alcohol in 95% yield, and an isotopomer of CAPE, [3,10-¹³C₂]CAPE, was synthesized in 91% yield from [3-¹³C]caffeic acid and 2-[1-¹³C]phenethyl alcohol. This method may be useful for the convenient esterification and amidation of diverse phenolic acids.     

Synthesis of the Polyketide (E)-Olefin of the Jamaicamides

The jamaicamides, isolated in Jamaica from the cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula, are new mixed polyketide-peptides that are known to be sodium channel blockers. The polyketide moiety contains an (E)-vinyl chloride, an undetermined methyl stereocenter (C9), and an (E)-olefin. Herein, we report the synthesis of the (E)-olefin moiety of the polyketide of the jamaicamides utilizing a Kocienski–Julia coupling.

Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Synthetic Communications® to view the free supplemental file.     

Raman study of a liquid crystalline gel consisting of photochromic 4-methyl-N-(4-n-heptyloxysalicylidene)aniline and a gelling agent (R,R')-1,2-bis(dodecanoylamino)cyclohexane

A liquid crystalline physical gel has been prepared from the mixture of a nematic liquid crystal and a low molecular mass gelling agent containing a hydrogen-bonding moiety. The newly synthesized liquid crystalline compound exhibited photochromism in the crystalline solid phase. Although photochromism was not observed in the nematic gel state of the mixture, the lifetime of photochromism in the solid phase became longer, compared with that of a single liquid crystalline compound. Some Raman bands of the mixture showed a marked change in both intensity and frequency through the phase transitions. These bands have been assigned to the vibrational modes related to the core part of molecule.     

Synthesis and Characterization of the Orthorhombic Sn3O4 Polymorph

An unexplored tin oxide crystal phase (Sn₃O₄) was experimentally synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method. After tuning the often-neglected parameters for the hydrothermal synthesis, namely the degree of filling of the precursor solution and the gas composition in the reactor head space, an unreported X-ray diffraction pattern was discovered. Through various characterization studies, such as Rietveld analysis, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and first-principles calculations, this novel material was characterized as orthorhombic mixed-valence tin oxide with the composition Sn^II₂Sn^IVO₄. This orthorhombic tin oxide is a new polymorph of Sn₃O₄, which differs from the reported conventional monoclinic structure. Computational and experimental analyses showed that orthorhombic Sn₃O₄ has a smaller band gap (2.0 eV), enabling greater absorption of visible light. This study is expected to improve the accuracy of hydrothermal synthesis and aid the discovery of new oxide materials.     

Efficient and rapid synthesis of phenolic analogs of 4-phenylbutanoic acid using microwave-assisted Michael addition as a key reaction

The addition of phenols to acrylonitrile in the presence of aqueous benzyltrimethylammonium hydroxide or tetramethylammonium hydroxide under microwave irradiation yielded the corresponding Michael adducts. The obtained adducts were easily transformed to phenolic analogs of 4-phenylbutanoic acids via the hydrolysis of nitrile groups.     

Palladium‐Catalyzed Asymmetric Benzylic Alkylation of Active Methylene Compounds with α‐Naphthylbenzyl Carbonates and Pivalates

A Pd/(R)‐H₈‐BINAP‐catalyzed asymmetric benzylic alkylation of active methylene compounds has been developed. The reaction proceeds without the use of an external base, and the starting racemic diarylmethyl carbonates are converted into the optically active coupling products which contain the benzylic chiral stereocenter by a dynamic kinetic asymmetric transformation (DYKAT). Additionally, with suitable carbonates bases, the same palladium catalysis allows the corresponding pivalates to be adopted in the same DYKAT process.     

Self‐Sorting of Two Hydrocarbon Receptors with One Carbonaceous Ligand

Non‐directional van der Waals forces in biological and synthetic supramolecular systems play important roles in molecular assembly, particularly in determining the distances of the interacting species. The van der Waals forces are normally used in combination with other directional forces and are considered to play a secondary role in achieving specificity and fidelity in molecular recognition. Using an ideal supramolecular system consisting solely of hydrogen and carbon atoms, we found that the van der Waals interactions enable the high‐fidelity sorting of two homomeric receptors during ligand‐induced assembly. The self‐sorting occurred in a narcissistic manner by repulsion of a competing diastereoisomeric receptor from the assembly. The structure–sorting relationship study with enantiomers further revealed the dominant role of the van der Waals forces in shape recognition for high‐fidelity self‐sorting.     

Synthesis of a partially benzylated derivative of the anhydro-d-altro-heptulose found in Coriaria japonica A

A partially benzylated derivative of the anhydro-d-altro-heptulose found in Coriaria japonica A, which is a synthetically useful unit, was successfully synthesized from a d-mannose derivative by a novel synthetic approach involving an intramolecular O-ketopyranosylation.     

Specific ion effects on interfacial water structure near macromolecules

We investigated specific ion effects on interfacial water structure next to macromolecules with vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy (VSFS). Poly-(N-isopropylacrylamide) was adsorbed at the air/water interface for this purpose. It was found that the presence of salt in the subphase could induce the reorganization of water adjacent to the macromolecule and that the changes depended greatly on the specific identity and concentration of the salt employed. Ranked by their propensity to orient interfacial water molecules, sodium salts could be placed in the following order: NaSCN > NaClO4 > NaI > NaNO3 approximately NaBr > NaCl > pure water approximately NaF approximately Na2SO4. This ordering is a Hofmeister series. On the other hand, varying the identity of the cation exhibited virtually no effect. We also showed that the oscillator strength in the OH stretch region was linearly related to changes in the surface potential caused by anion adsorption. This fact allowed binding isotherms to be abstracted from the VSFS data. Such results offer direct evidence that interfacial water structure can be predominantly the consequence of macromolecule-ion interactions.