Ranking Oxidant Sensitiveness: A Guide for Synthetic Utility

Common oxidants used in chemical synthesis, including newly developed perruthenates, were evaluated in the context of understanding (and better appreciating) the sensitiveness and associated potential hazards of these reagents. Analysis using sealed cell differential scanning calorimetry (scDSC) facilitated Yoshida correlations, which were compared to impact sensitiveness and electrostatic discharge experiments (ESD), that enabled sensitiveness ranking. Methyltriphenylphoshonium perruthenate (MTP3, 8 ), isoamyltriphenylphosphonium perruthenate (ATP3, 7 ) and tetraphenylphosphonium perruthenate (TP3, 9 ) were found to be the most sensitive followed by 2-iodoxybenzoic acid (IBX, 2 ) and benzoyl peroxide (BPO, 10 ), whereas the most benign were observed to be Oxone ( 12 ), manganese dioxide (MnO₂, 13 ), and N-bromosuccinimide (NBS, 17 ).     

Fast and solvent-free microwave-assisted synthesis of thermoresponsive oligo(glycidyl ether)s

Low-molecular weight linear poly(glycidyl ether)s are typically synthesized via the “classical,” oxy-anionic ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of glycidyl ether monomers at elevated temperatures. To reduce reaction times, a fast process was developed to synthesize oligo(glycidyl ether)s (OGEs) in bulk at a gram-scale utilizing microwave heating. Well-defined thermoresponsive copolymers comprising glycidyl methyl ether and ethyl glycidyl ether with molecular weights of up to 3 kDa were synthesized via microwave-assisted ROP with reaction times of approximately 10 min. The fast reaction kinetics were attributed to the rapid and uniform heating and high temperatures reached during the reaction. Consequently, no significant microwave-specific acceleration of the oxy-anionic ROP was observed. The temperature-triggered phase transition of the OGEs in aqueous solution revealed cloud point temperatures that are highly dependent on the OGE molecular weight, concentration, and comonomer composition, which extends previously reported data. Furthermore, oligo(glycidyl ether) acrylates (OGEAs) with reactive, functional end groups were directly accessible via in situ quenching of the anionic, microwave-assisted ROP with acrylic acid chloride. The obtained thermoresponsive OGEA macromonomers represent a promising material for the functionalization of surfaces via radical grafting methods to obtain functional, thermoresponsive coatings with potential application in cell culture. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018 , 56, 2496–2504     

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.     

Monofluoroalkene-Isostere as a 19F NMR Label for the Peptide Backbone: Synthesis and Evaluation in Membrane-Bound PGLa and (KIGAKI)3

Solid-state ¹⁹F NMR is a powerful method to study the interactions of biologically active peptides with membranes. So far, in labelled peptides, the ¹⁹F-reporter group has always been installed on the side chain of an amino acid. Given the fact that monofluoroalkenes are non-hydrolyzable peptide bond mimics, we have synthesized a monofluoroalkene-based dipeptide isostere, Val-Ψ[(Z)-CF=CH]-Gly, and inserted it in the sequence of two well-studied antimicrobial peptides: PGLa and (KIGAKI)₃ are representatives of an α-helix and a β-sheet. The conformations and biological activities of these labeled peptides were studied to assess the suitability of monofluoroalkenes for ¹⁹F NMR structure analysis.     

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.