Boronate Ligands in Materials: Determining Their Local Environment by Using a Combination of IR/Solid‐State NMR Spectroscopies and DFT Calculations

Boronic acids (R‐B(OH)₂) are a family of molecules that have found a large number of applications in materials science. In contrast, boronate anions (R‐B(OH)₃^?) have hardly been used so far for the preparation of novel materials. Here, a new crystalline phase involving a boronate ligand is described, Ca[C₄H₉‐B(OH)₃]₂, which is then used as a basis for the establishment of the spectroscopic signatures of boronates in the solid state. The phase was characterized by IR and multinuclear solid‐state NMR spectroscopy (¹H, ¹³C, ¹¹B and ⁴³Ca), and then modeled by periodic DFT calculations. Anharmonic OH vibration frequencies were calculated as well as NMR parameters (by using the Gauge Including Projector Augmented Wave—GIPAW—method). These data allow relationships between the geometry around the OH groups in boronates and the IR and ¹H NMR spectroscopic data to be established, which will be key to the future interpretation of the spectra of more complex organic–inorganic materials containing boronate building blocks.     

Evaluations of solid electrodes for use in voltammetric monitoring of heavy metals in samples from metallurgical nickel industry

Evaluation of different solid electrode systems for detection of zinc, lead, cobalt, and nickel in process water from metallurgical nickel industry with use of differential pulse stripping voltammetry has been performed. Zinc was detected by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) on a dental amalgam electrode as intermetallic Ni–Zn compound after dilution in ammonium buffer solution. The intermetallic compound was observed at –375 mV, and a linear response was found in the range 0.2–1.2 mg L^–1 (r²=0.98) for 60 s deposition time. Simultaneous detection of nickel and cobalt in the low g L^–1 range was successfully performed by use of adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry (AdCSV) of dimethylglyoxime complexes on a silver–bismuth alloy electrode, and a good correlation was found with corresponding AAS results (r²=0.999 for nickel and 0.965 for cobalt). Analyses of lead in the g L^–1 range in nickel-plating solution were performed with good sensitivity and stability by DPASV, using a working electrode of silver together with a glassy carbon counter electrode in samples diluted 1:3 with distilled water and acidified with H₂SO₄ to pH 2. A new commercial automatic at-line system was tested, and the results were found to be in agreement with an older mercury drop system. The stability of the solid electrode systems was found to be from one to several days without any maintenance needed.     

Enzymatic profiling system in a small-molecule microarray

[reaction: see text] We have developed a microarray-based strategy for detection of three major classes of hydrolytic enzymes on the basis of their catalytic activities. This enables the sensitive detection of proteins not merely by their bindings but rather by their enzymatic activities. This may provide a valuable tool for screening, identification, and characterization of new enzymes in a high-throughput fashion.     

High-throughput screening of pKa values of pharmaceuticals by pressure-assisted capillary electrophoresis and mass spectrometry

A high-throughput pKa screening method based on pressure-assisted capillary electrophoresis (CE) and mass spectrometry (MS) is presented. Effects of buffer type and ionic strength on sensitivity and pKa values were investigated. Influence of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) concentration present in the sample on effective mobility measurement was examined. A series of ten volatile buffers, covering a pH range from 2.5 to 10.5 with the same ionic strength, was employed. The application of volatile background electrolytes resulted in significant signal increase as compared with commonly used non-volatile phosphate buffers. In general, the CE/MS system provided a ten-fold higher sensitivity than conventional UV detection. The newly developed CE/MS method offers high-throughput capacity by pooling a number of compounds into a single sample. Simultaneous measurement of more than 50 compounds was readily achieved in less than 150 min. The measured pKa values are consistent with the published data obtained from the CE/UV method and are also in good agreement with data generated by other methods. Other advantages of using CE/MS for pKa screening are illustrated with typical examples, including poorly soluble compounds and non-UV-absorbing compounds.     

One-Pot Synthesis of Metastable 2,5-Dihydrooxepines through Retro-Claisen Rearrangements: Method and Applications

A one-pot methodology to synthesize metastable bicyclic 2,5-dihydrooxepines from cyclic 1,3-diketones and 1,4-dibromo-2-butenes through the retro-Claisen rearrangement of syn-2-vinylcyclopropyl diketone intermediates is reported. DFT calculations were performed to understand the reaction selectivity and mechanisms towards [1,3]- or [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangements, highlighting the crucial influence of the temperature. The reaction was successfully applied to a short protecting group-free total synthesis of radulanin A, a natural 2,5-dihydrobenzoxepine. Moreover, the strong herbicidal potential of this natural product is demonstrated for the first time.     

Carbene‐Catalyzed Desymmetrization and Direct Construction of Arenes with All‐Carbon Quaternary Chiral Center

Multisubstituted arenes such as indanes with attached all‐carbon quaternary centers are unique scaffolds in synthetic functional molecules and sophisticated natural products. A key challenge in preparing such molecules lies in the enantioselective installation of the quaternary carbon centers. Conventional methods in this direction include asymmetric substitution reactions and substrate‐controlled cyclization reactions. These reactions lead to poor stereoselectivities and/or require long and tedious synthetic steps. Disclosed here is a one‐step organic catalytic strategy for enantioselective access to this class of molecules. The reaction involves an N‐heterocyclic carbene catalyzed process for direct benzene construction, indane formation, remote‐carbon desymmetrization, and excellent chirality control. This approach will enable the concise synthesis of arene‐containing molecules, including those with complex structures and challenging chiral centers.     

Sensing and photocatalytic properties of nanosized Cu(I)CN organotin supramolecular coordination polymer based on pyrazine

Orange prismatic crystals of the supramolecular coordination polymer (SCP) _∞³[Cu(CN)₂(Me₃Sn)(Pyz)], SCP 1 , were synthesized using a self‐assembly method under ambient conditions. Nanosized 1 was obtained using the same molar ratio in water by ultrasonic irradiation. SCP 1 was characterized using single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, elemental analysis, thermal analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. SCP 1 and its nanosized 1 particles were also examined using powder X‐ay diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The luminescence emission of SCP 1 was studied as well as its use as a sensor for the detection of common organic solvents and metal ions. Also, the catalytic activities of nanosized 1 towards various organic dyes were investigated under ambient conditions, UV irradiation and ultrasonic irradiation. Nanosized 1 as a heterogeneous nanoparticle catalyst exhibits high catalytic activity for the degradation of eosin‐Y and acid blue dyes. The mechanism of degradation investigated using various scavenger techniques is proposed and discussed. The catalytic oxidation process is mainly caused by ?OH radicals.