Copper-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate addition of diethylzinc using axially chiral aminoethyloxy-phosphine ligands

New axially chiral P,O,N-type ligands bearing both a diphenylphosphino group and 2-(dialkylamino)ethyloxy (or 2-pyridylmethyloxy) groups were designed and prepared along with P,O,O-type ligands by employing an easily available chiral component, (R)-2-hydroxy-2′-diphenylphosphinyl-1,1′-binaphthyl. Among the ligands the simplest P,O,N-type one bearing a 2-(dimethylamino)ethyloxy group was found to be the most efficient in copper-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate addition of diethylzinc to a cyclic enone, 2-cyclohexen-1-one, providing high enantioselectivity up to 99% ee.     

Preferential Solvation in Aqueous–Organic Mixed Solvents Using Solvatochromic Indicators

Solvatochromism of the twisted intramolecular charge-transfer (TICT) fluorescence of 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)benzonitrile (DMABN) in pure water, methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, acetone, acetonitrile, and in the corresponding aqueous–organic binary mixed solvents was systematically studied and an empirical solvent polarity scale (F _B) based on the DMABN solvatochromism was defined. The F _B parameters of the explored binary mixed solvents as a function of solvent composition were analyzed by a stepwise solvent-exchange (SSE) model to clarify the preferential solvation (PS) of the probe dye in these binary mixed solvents. Solvation diagrams toward DMABN in the mixed solvents, i.e., the local solvent composition in the solvation shell of DMABN molecules was depicted as a function of bulk solvent composition to visualize the PS in these mixed solvents. For comparison, a similar PS analysis was applied to the solvatochromism of 2,6-diphenyl-4-(2,4,6-triphenylpyridinium-1- yl)phenolate (ET-30) and pyrene (Py) in these mixed solvents; the responsive PS pattern of the mixed solvents toward the specific indicator dye of DMABN, ET-30, and Py was then discussed in terms of the chemical properties of the probe dye, the properties of the mixed solvents, and the solute–solvent and solvent–solvent interactions.     

Design of ionic liquids as a medium for the Grignard reaction

Design of novel phosphonium ionic liquids that are compatible with Grignard reagents have been investigated; several types of phosphonium salts that have an alkyl ether moiety have been synthesized and their capability evaluated as solvents for Grignard reagents. It has been established that even basic aliphatic Grignard reagent-mediated reactions are possible when methoxyethyl(tri-n-butyl)phosphonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide is used as the solvent.     

Light-induced formation of curved needle texture by circularly polarized light irradiation on a discotic liquid crystal containing a racemic chromium complex

We have found that the discotic nematic liquid crystal, hexakis(4-nonylphenylethynyl)benzene (HNEB), doped with the racemic chromium complex Cr(Ocacac)₃, shows a novel straight-needle texture with hexagonal columnar alignments, changing to a curved-needle texture under irradiation of circularly polarized light (CPL). This novel phenomenon is specific to the mixture of HNEB and Cr(Ocacac)₃. The formation of curved needles means that chiroselective photoinversion of racemic Cr(Ocacac)₃ by CPL irradiation induces a needle direction change in a discotic liquid crystal. The change in chirality of Cr(Ocacac)₃ in HNEB induced by CPL irradiation, and the resulting nano-segregation of its enantiomers during cooling from the isotropic to mesophase of HNEB, are considered to influence changes in the alignment of columns and/or small domains of column aggregates in the discotic liquid crystal.     

Isolation and magnetic properties of heterocycle-carrying N-alkoxyarylaminyl radicals

Two N-tert-butoxy-2,6-diaryl-4-(4-pyridyl)phenylaminyls (1) and three N-tert-butoxy-2,6-diaryl-4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)phenylaminyls (2) were prepared by the reaction of the lithium salts of the corresponding anilines with tert-butyl peroxybenzoate. Although 1 could not be isolated as radical crystals, 2 was successfully obtained as red crystals. The X-ray crystallographic analysis and magnetic susceptibility measurements were performed for one isolated radical.     

Novel bifunctional probe for radioisotope-free photoaffinity labeling: compact structure comprised of photospecific ligand ligation and detectable tag anchoring units

A novel method for radioisotope-free photoaffinity labeling was developed, in which a bifunctional ligand is connected to a target protein by activation of a photoreactive group, such as an aromatic azido or 3-trifluoromethyl-3H-diazirin-3-yl group, and identification of the ligated product is achieved by anchoring of a detectable tag through the Staudinger-Bertozzi reaction with an alkyl azido moiety that survives photolysis. The chemical ground of this method was confirmed using model compounds with the bifunctional group under photoirradiation in the presence of trapping agents for reactive intermediates. The utility of the method has been demonstrated by specific labeling of the catalytic portion of human HMG-CoA reductase.     

Chemiluminescent decomposition of a dioxetane bearing a 3-(1-cyanoethenyl)phenyl moiety induced by Michael addition of an anion of malonate

A thermally stable dioxetane bearing a 3-(1-cyanoethenyl)phenyl group (1) was synthesized. Michael addition of an anion of malonate (3a,b) to a dioxetane (1) substituted with a 3-(1-cyanoethenyl)phenyl moiety took place to give an intermediary dioxetane bearing a benzylic anion, which decomposes rapidly with accompanying emission of crimson light. When an anion of chloromalonate (3c) was used as a base, intramolecular cyclopropanation of 3c occurred concurrently with the Michael-addition-induced chemiluminescent decomposition.     

Rh(I)-catalyzed allenic Pauson-Khand reaction: first construction of the bicyclo[6.3.0]undecadienone ring system

The Rh(I)-catalyzed Pauson-Khand reaction of allenynes afforded the bicyclo[6.3.0]undecadienones as well as their benzo and furo derivatives. In addition, a novel [RhCl(CO)₂]₂-catalyzed [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of the sulfinic ester species of propargyl alcohols was developed.     

Synthetic studies on (+)-naphthyridinomycin: stereoselective synthesis of the tetracyclic core framework

[reaction: see text] The stereoselective synthesis of the tetracyclic intermediate 21 for (+)-naphthyridinomycin (1) has been accomplished. The convergent synthesis used the Ugi 4CC reaction with the amine derivative 10. The key features of the stereoselective synthesis of 21 were the intramolecular Mizoroki-Heck reaction, an aromatic-aldehyde cyclization, and a stereoselective hydroboration.     

The effect of spin-orbit coupling on fast neutral chemical reaction O(3P)+CH3-->CH3O

The effect of nonadiabatic transitions through the spin-orbit couplings has been investigated on the fast neutral reaction, O((3)P)+CH(3)-->CH(3)O. Adiabatic potential energies and the spin-orbit coupling terms have been evaluated for the four electronic states of CH(3)O ((2)E, (2)A(2), (4)E, and (4)A(2)) that correlate with the O((3)P)+CH(3) asymptote, as a function of CO distance and OCH angle under the C(3v) symmetry, by ab initio electronic structure calculations using multireference internally contracted single and double excitation configuration interaction method with the 6-311G(2df,2pd) basis sets. Multistate quantum reactive scattering calculations have been carried out with the use of thus obtained potential energies and spin-orbit coupling matrices, based on the generalized R-matrix propagation method. The calculated thermal rate constants show a slight positive dependence on temperature in a range between 50 and 2000 K, supporting the previous experimental results. It is shown that the spin-orbit coupled excited states give rise to reflections over the centrifugal barrier due to the quantum interference. Classical capture calculations yield larger rate constants due to the neglect of quantum reflections. It is concluded that the effect of nonadiabatic transitions is of minor importance on the overall reactivity in this reaction.