Enantioselective α-benzoyloxylation of ketones promoted by primary amine catalyst

A mixture of 9-amino-(9-deoxy)epi-dihydroquinidine and salicylic acid was able to promote the direct reaction of various cyclohexanones with dibenzoyl peroxide, thus affording the corresponding protected α-hydroxy carbonyl compounds in high yield and enantioselectivity. Interestingly the same catalytic salt was found to be active when 1-indanones derivatives were directly employed in the reaction with dibenzoyl peroxide furnishing chiral 1-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-2-yl benzoates in high yields and enantioselectivity. Furthermore their treatment with NaBH(4) gives easy access to the corresponding enantioenriched 1,2-diols in high yields and without any loss of stereoselectivity.     

Organoboranes. 52. The successful ring enlargement of boracyclanes via sequential one-carbon homologation: The first synthesis of boracyclanes in the strained medium-ring range

Previous attempts to synthesize boracyclanes in the medium-ring range (9-, 10-, 11-, and 12-ring members) via cyclic hydroboration of α,ω-dienes have failed. However, their synthesis via the sequential one-carbon homologation of B-methoxyboracyclanes has been achieved utilizing the successive reaction of B-methoxyboracyclanes with in situ generated (chloromethyl)lithium (LiCH₂Cl): MeOB(CH₂)₅ → MeOB(CH₂)₆ → MeOB(CH₂)₇ → MeOB(CH₂)₈ → MeOB(CH₂)₉ → MeOB(CH₂)₁₀ → MeOB(CH₂)₁₁. The yields achieved are in the range of 75–85%. In each case the products are identified by conversion via the DCME reaction into the known cycloalkanones. This development provides the first entry into boracyclanes of the strained medium ring range.     

A facile, high-yield synthesis of DI-η-cyclopentadienylhafnacyclopentadiene compounds

Hafnocene dichloride was reduced with amalgamated magnesium in the presence of alkynes giving high yields of di-η⁵-cyclopentadienylhafnacyclopentadienes. Reaction with hydrochloric acid yields exclusively the corresponding (E,E)-butadiene derivatives.     

Wire-Arc Spray Modeling

A model is presented describing the details of the wire-arc spray process. The model consists of several submodels each treating a different part of the process. A compressible flow model describes the supersonic nozzle flow upstream of the wire tips. The arc is described by a 3-D arc in cross-flow model using different boundary conditions for the cathode and the anode boundary. The resulting temperature and velocity contours serve as upstream boundary for a 2-D turbulent jet model. Particle generation and acceleration is described by treating the initial droplet formation for the anode and the cathode wire separately and then using the resulting particle size and velocity distributions in a secondary break-up model. Comparison with some experimental results show acceptable agreement. This modeling approach may be used for optimization of wire-arc spray equipment.     

Isa‒NHC‒catalyzed intermolecular Stetter reaction of aromatic aldehydes with maleimides: An efficient access to 3‒aroylsuccinimides

An intermolecular Stetter reaction of aromatic aldehydes with maleimides has been developed using thiazolylidene salt derived Isa?NHC as an efficient organocatalyst. The synthesized Stetter products “3?aroylsuccinimides” are important building blocks for the synthesis of natural products and bioactive compounds. The reaction conditions are mild, and various substituents on aromatic aldehyde and maleimide nitrogen were tolerated.     

Reactive sensing of gold (III) by coumarin tethered fluorescent probe through alkyne activation

A novel strategy, involving anchoring and un-anchoring of coumarin based fluorophore, has been established for the selective detection of Au³⁺ species. Selective sensing of Gold (Au³⁺) was triggered due to alkynophilicity of gold ions to create lateral fluorescence of a latent fluorophore. The 4-methyl-2-oxo-2H-chromen-7-yl 2-(2-phenylethynyl) benzoate (CEB) probe was synthesized by reacting 7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin with iodo-benzoic acid. CEB probe has an absorption at 300 nm and 335 nm which decreases gradually and new absorption appeared at 406 nm due to Au³⁺ promoted ester hydrolysis selectively over other metal ions with great sensitivity, which accompanies a turn on fluorescence change produced by 7-hydroxy coumarin. The principle behind this sensing strategy is activation of triple bond induced uniquely by Au⁺³ ions leading to cascade and delivers active fluorophore. The sensing mechanism was proposed and supported by ¹H NMR, MS and TD-DFT experiments. The density functional theory (DFT) and time dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) theoretical results of the CEB-probe and Au³⁺ reaction is in good agreement with the experimental results. Additionally, probe could be well incorporated onto the test strips for effective detection of Au^3+.     

Singular value decomposition of torsional angles of analogs of the dopamine reuptake inhibitor GBR 12909

Analysis of large, flexible molecules, such as the dopamine reuptake inhibitor GBR 12909 (1), is complicated by the fact that they can take on a wide range of closely related conformations. The first step in the analysis is to classify the conformers into groups. Here, Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) was used to group conformations of GBR 12909 analogs by the similarity of their nonring torsional angles. The significance of the present work, the first application of SVD to the analysis of very flexible molecules, lies in the development of a novel scaling technique for circular data and in the grouping of molecular conformations using a technique that is independent of molecular alignment. Over 700 conformers each of a piperazine (2) and piperidine (3) analog of 1 were studied. Analysis of the score and loading plots showed that the conformers of 2 separate into three large groups due to torsional angles on the naphthalene side of the molecule, whereas those of 3 separate into nine groups due to torsional angles on the bisphenyl side of the molecule. These differences are due to nitrogen inversion at the unprotonated piperazinyl nitrogen of 2, which results in a different ensemble of conformers than those of 3, where no inversion is possible at the corresponding piperidinyl carbon.     

Estimation of intramolecular hydrogen bond energy via molecular tailoring approach

A novel method, based on the molecular tailoring approach for estimating intramolecular hydrogen bond energies, is proposed. Here, as a case study, the O-H...O bond energy is directly estimated by addition/subtraction of the single point individual fragment energies. This method is tested on polyhydroxy molecules at MP2 and B3LYP levels of theory. It is seen to be able to distinguish between weak ( approximately 1 kcal mol(-1)) and moderately strong ( approximately 5 kcal mol(-1)) hydrogen bonds in polyhydroxy molecules.     

Molecular interpretation of water structuring and destructuring effects: hydration of alkanediols

Molecular electrostatic potential (MESP) guidelines are employed for understanding the reactivity and hydration patterns in alkanediol molecules. The deeper oxygen lone pair MESP minima indicate stronger basicity of 1,n-diols and 2,4-pentanediol (2,4-PeD) as compared to that of vicinal diols. The existence and strength of the intramolecular hydrogen bond in diols are gauged in terms of the electron density at the bond saddle points. A model named electrostatic potential for intermolecular complexation (EPIC) is used for generating the structures of hydrated complexes, which are subsequently subjected to ab initio calculations at M?ller-Plesset second-order perturbation level of theory. Further, the nature of water...water as well as diol...water interactions is appraised employing many-body energy decomposition analysis. It is seen that water...water interactions are more favorable in vicinal diol...6H(2)O than those in 1,n-diol...6H(2)O (n=3, 4, 5,...) complexes. Exactly opposite trends are shown by diol...water interaction energies. Thus vicinal diols, being more effective at strengthening water...water network, are expected to act as water structuring agents, whereas the non-vicinal diols are expected to be water destructuring agents.     

Complex Permittivity Spectra of Binary Pyridine–Amide Mixtures Using Time–Domain Reflectometry

Frequency spectra of the complex permittivity for pyridine–amide binary mixtures have been determined over the frequency range 10 MHz to 10 GHz, at 5, 15, 25, and 40°C, using the time–domain reflectometry method, for 11 compositions of each pyridine–amide system, e.g., formamide, N-methylformamide, and N,N-dimethylformamide. The relaxation in these systems can be described by a single relaxation time using the Debye model. The static dielectric constant, relaxation time, the corresponding excess dielectric properties, Kirkwood correlation factor, and molar activation energy of the mixtures have been determined. The excess permittivity is found to be positive in the amide-rich region and negative in the pyridine-rich region. The excess inverse relaxation time is negative, except in the pyridine-rich region. The static dielectric constants for the mixtures have been fitted with the modified Bruggeman model. The temperature-dependent relaxation times show the expected Arrhenius behavior.