Double-chelation-assisted Rh-catalyzed intermolecular hydroacylation between salicylaldehydes and 1,4-penta- or 1,5-hexadienes

Intermolecular hydroacylation between salicylaldehydes 1, 26-40 and 1,4-penta- or 1,5-hexadienes 4-13 by Rh-catalyst proceeded under mild reaction conditions to give a mixture of iso- and normal-hydroacylated products 14-25, 41-55, and 57-60. In the hydroacylation reaction, chelation of both salicylaldehyde and diene to the Rh-complex plays a crucial role. The ratio of iso- and normal-hydroacylated products could be regulated by the addition of salicylic acid or amines. The effects of various Rh-complexes, solvents, and additives were examined, and the plausible mechanisms of the catalytic cycle were proposed on the basis of the deuterium-labeling salicylaldehyde experiments.     

Application of preparative high-speed counter-current chromatography for separation of methyl gallate from Acer truncatum Bunge

Preparative separation of methyl gallate in leaves extract of Acer truncatum Bunge was conducted using high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) with a solvent system composed of ethyl acetate-ethanol-water at volume ratios of 5:1:5 (v/v/v). In a single operation, 57.5 mg of methyl gallate was obtained from 120 mg of the extract. HPLC analyses of the counter-current chromatography (CCC) fraction revealed that the methyl gallate was having over 97% purity. Its structure was identified by 1H NMR and 13C NMR.     

Semi-industrial isolation of salicin and amygdalin from plant extracts using slow rotary counter-current chromatography

Salicin in the bark extract of Salix alba and amygdalin in the fruit extract of Semen armeniacae were each separated by slow rotary counter-current chromatography (SRCCC). The apparatus was equipped with a 40-L column made of 17 mm i.d. convoluted Teflon tubing. A 500g amount of crude extract containing salicin at 13.5% was separated yielding 63.5 g of salicin at 95.3% purity in 20h using methyl tert-butyl ether-l-butanol (1:3) saturated by methanol-water (1:5) as a stationary phase and methanol-water (1:5) saturated by methyl tert-butyl ether-1-butanol (1:3) as a mobile phase. A 400g amount of crude extract containing amygdalin at 55.3% was isolated to yield 221.2g of amygdalin at 94.1% purity in 19h using ethyl acetate-1-butanol (1:2) saturated by water as a stationary phase and water saturated by ethyl acetate-1-butanol (1:2) as a mobile phase. The flow rate of the mobile phase was 50 ml/min. The results show that industrial SRCCC separation of salicin and amygdalin is feasible using a larger column at a higher flow rate of the mobile phase.     

Purification of Food Color Red No. 106 (acid red) using pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography

pH-Zone-refining counter-current chromatography was successfully applied to the separation of the main components of Food Color Red No. 106 (R-106, acid red, Color Index No. 45100). A 300-mg quantity of sample was separated using the following two-phase solvent system: n-butanol-water, 40 mM sulfuric acid in organic stationary phase and 30 mM ammonia in aqueous mobile phase. The obtained fractions were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography and fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry. The separation yielded 261.9 mg of main component of acid red with purity of 99.9%.     

Effect of Coriolis force on counter-current chromatographic separation by centrifugal partition chromatography

The effect of Coriolis force on the counter-current chromatographic separation was studied using centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) with four different two-phase solvent systems including n-hexane-acetonitrile (ACN); tert-butyl methyl ether (MtBE)-aqueous 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) (1:1); MtBE-ACN-aqueous 0.1% TFA (2:2:3); and 12.5% (w/w) polyethylene glycol (PEG) 1000-12.5% (w/w) dibasic potassium phosphate. Each separation was performed by eluting either the upper phase in the ascending mode or the lower phase in the descending mode, each in clockwise (CW) and counterclockwise column rotation. Better partition efficiencies were attained by the CW rotation in both mobile phases in all the two-phase solvent systems examined. The mathematical analysis also revealed the Coriolis force works favorably under the CW column rotation for both mobile phases. The overall results demonstrated that the Coriolis force produces substantial effects on CPC separation in both organic-aqueous and aqueous-aqueous two-phase systems.     

Hydrosilylation of α,β-unsaturated nitriles and esters catalyzed by tris (triphenylphosphine)chlororhodium

The hydrosilylation of α,β-unsaturated nitriles and esters such as acrylonitrile, crotononitrile, cinnamonitrile, ethyl and methyl acrylate, ethyl and methyl crotonate and ethyl and methyl methacrylate using tris(triphenylphosphine)chlororhodium as a catalyst is described. The hydrosilylation of α,β-unsaturated nitriles provided α-adduct exclusively in high yield except in the case of trichlorosilane which afforded β-adduct with acrylonitrile. On the other hand, the hydrosilylation of α,β-unsaturated esters gave rather complex results. The selectivity of the reactions was dramatically affected by the substituent of the ester group and that on the β-carbon. Thus, the hydrosilylation of ethyl acrylate with triethylsilane afforded a β-adduct, but, that of ethyl crotonate using the same hydrosilane gave a 1,4-adduct exclusively. Possible mechanisms for these reactions are discussed.     

Radical cascade reaction with 1,4-dienes and 1,4-enynes using 2-(iodomethyl)cyclopropane-1,1-dicarboxylate as a homoallyl radical precursor: one-step synthesis of bicyclo[3.3.0]octane derivatives

[reaction: see text] Radical cascade reaction with various 1,4-dienes and 1,4-enynes using dimethyl 2-(iodomethyl)cyclopropane-1,1-dicarboxylate as a homoallyl radical precursor smoothly proceeds through an iodine atom transfer mechanism to give functionalized bicyclo[3.3.0]octane derivatives in good yields.     

Formation of cyclic organosilicon compounds via organopolysilyl anions starting from methoxymethyldisilanes. A mechanistic study

In the presence of a catalytic amount of sodium methoxide, sym-dimethoxytetramethyldisilane was converted into α,ω-dimethoxypermethylpolysilanes, MeO(SiMe₂)_nOMe where n ? 3, at room temperature. On the other hand, similar treatment of the disilane in THF solution gave cyclic polysilanes, (Me₂Si)_n where n = 5–7. Decomposition of the disilane in the presence of diphenylacetylene afforded a trisilacyclopentene derivative under similar conditions. This compound was obtained also by the reaction between α,ω-dimethoxypermethylpolysilanes and diphenylacetylene in the presence of sodium methoxide. These cyclic products most likely were formed via permethyl polysilyl anion intermediates derived from α,ω-dimethoxypermethylpolysilanes. Also, the formation of α,ω-dimethoxypermethylpolysilanes could be elucidated in terms of the mechanism involving the base-assisted, concerted nucleophilic substitution or stepwise substitution by silyl anions, rather than the successive dimethylsilylene (Me₂Si:) insertion reaction.     

Iodine atom transfer [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction with electron-rich alkenes using N-tosyliodoaziridine derivatives as novel azahomoallyl radical precursors

Treatment of N-tosyliodoaziridine derivatives with Et(3)B efficiently produces various azahomoallyl radical (2-akenylamidyl radical) species which give oxygen-functionalized pyrrolidine derivatives through iodine atom transfer [3 + 2] cycloaddition with electron-rich alkenes such as enol ethers and ketene acetal. The present cycloaddition reaction proceeds regioselectively via C-N bond cleavage of an aziridinylalkyl radical intermediate and addition of the resulting azahomoallyl radicals to the terminal carbon of an alkene. The reaction of alkenes with the cyclohexenylamidyl radical generated from an optically active bicyclic iodoaziridine [(1S,2S,6S)-2-iodo-7-(p-toluenesulfonyl)-7-azabicyclo[4.1.0]heptane, 94% ee] also proceeds to give optically active octahydroindole derivatives (84-93% ee).     

Mobility performance of a rigid wheel in low gravity environments

To investigate influences of gravity on mobility of wheeled rovers for future lunar/planetary exploration missions, model experiments of a soil-wheel system were performed on an aircraft during variable gravity maneuvers. The experimental set-up consists of a single rigid wheel and a soil bed with two kinds of dry sands: lunar soil simulant and Toyoura sand. The experimental results revealed that a lower gravity environment yields higher wheel slippage in variable gravity conditions. In addition to the partial gravity experiments, the same experiments with variable wheel load levels were also performed on ground (1 g conditions). The on-ground experiments produced opposite results to those obtained in the partial gravity experiments, where a lower wheel load yields lower slippage in a constant gravity environment. In low gravity environments, fluidity (flowability) of soil increases due to the confining stress reduction in the soil, while the effect of the wheel load on sinkage decreases. As a result, both of these effects are canceled out, and gravity seemingly has no effect on the wheel sinkage. In the meantime, in addition to the effect of wheel load reduction, the increase of the soil flowability lessens the shear resistance to the wheel rotation, as a result of which the wheel is unable to hold sufficient traction in low gravity environments. This suggests that the mobility of the wheel is governed concurrently by two mechanisms: the bearing characteristics to the wheel load, and the shearing characteristics to the wheel rotation. It appears that, in low gravity, the wheel mobility deteriorates due to the relative decrease in the driving force while the wheel sinkage remains constant. Thus, it can be concluded that the lunar and/or Mars’ gravity environments will be unfavorable in terms of the mobility performance of wheels as compared to the earth’s gravity condition.