Recent advances in the activation of boron and silicon reagents for stereocontrolled allylation reactions

Despite the popularity of boron and silicon allylation reagents in stereocontrolled synthesis, they suffer from a number of inherent limitations that have slowed down their development as synthetic tools for nucleophilic additions to carbonyl compounds and imine derivatives. These limitations are the low reactivity and diastereoselectivity of allyl trialkylsilane reagents, and the lack of catalytic systems for the activation and substoichiometric control of enantioselectivity in the additions of allyl boron reagents. To develop more efficient and general methods for the control of absolute stereochemistry in the resulting homoallylic alcohols, new approaches aimed at solving the problem of activation of allylic boron and silicon reagents are needed. This Minireview describes a number of recent approaches that have been devised to address this problem.     

Reduction of nitroaromatics to arylnitrenium ions by vinyl halide cations

The title reduction of nitroaromatics ArNO(2) by vinyl halide radical cations CH(2)[double bond]CH-X(+*)(X = Cl or Br) to form arylnitrenium ions ArNH(+) involves a change in oxidation number of nitrogen from +3 to -1. This novel reaction provides a new route for the generation of arylnitrenium ions, a highly selective method for the detection of explosives in mixtures, and offers clues to the carcinogenic activity of nitroaromatics in vivo.     

Electronic effects steer the mechanism of asymmetric hydrogenations of unfunctionalized aryl-substituted alkenes

Density functional theory (PBE and B3LYP) was used to study asymmetric hydrogenations of alkenes catalyzed by an iridium imidazolylidine oxazoline complex. The calculation predicts that the alkene preferentially coordinates to the site trans to the carbene. The coordinated alkene then reacts first with the H2 ligand, then with the hydride to form alkane. Finally, the alkane is released by equilibrating with extrinsic H2 and alkene. Enantioface selectivities for hydrogenations of trisubstituted alkenes seem to be driven primarily by steric interactions with the adamantyl part of the ligand; only the smallest substituents can adopt a site close to it. Application of this theoretical model leads to correct predictions regarding the experimentally observed sense and magnitude of the enantioselectivities.     

Clustering files of chemical structures using the fuzzy k-means clustering method

This paper evaluates the use of the fuzzy k-means clustering method for the clustering of files of 2D chemical structures. Simulated property prediction experiments with the Starlist file of logP values demonstrate that use of the fuzzy k-means method can, in some cases, yield results that are superior to those obtained with the conventional k-means method and with Ward's clustering method. Clustering of several small sets of agrochemical compounds demonstrate the ability of the fuzzy k-means method to highlight multicluster membership and to identify outlier compounds, although the former can be difficult to interpret in some cases.     

Bifurcated, modular syntheses of chiral annulet triazacyclononanes

Three chiral 2,6-disubstituted tri-N-methyl azamacrocycles have been prepared by modular methods. These macrocycles were accessed from three chiral 1,4,7-triazaheptanes intermediates that were prepared by two independent routes. The first of these routes involved the benzylamine opening of chiral tosyl aziridines followed by debenzylation but was problematic on solubility grounds. A second, more effective, route was developed which avoided debenzylation by using ammonia in the nucleophilic opening of chiral tosyl aziridines.     

Organometallic compounds having metal-metal bonds : XXIII. Hydrido(triphenylgermanium)tetracarbonyliron and its conjugate base

Reaction of Ph₃GeLi with [Et₄N][HFe₃(CO)₁₁] affords the new carbonylferrate salt [Et₄N][Ph₃GeFe(CO)₄] and the same reaction provides an alternative route to the known silicon and tin analogs. Protonation of [Et₄N][Ph₃GeFe(CO)₄] with HCl in ether-THF forms the air-sensitive, thermally rather unstable cis-Ph₃GeFeH(CO)₄. The latter protonates chloride ions in dichloromethane.     

Information and organic molecules: structure considerations via integer statistics

Information in relation to organic molecules was investigated in a previous work (Graham and Schacht, J. Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci. 2000, 40, 187). The topic is given further consideration here with the help of integer statistics. Discussed are the ramifications of an integer variable Omega(t) which quantifies the total number of binding complexions for an organic molecule. Offered is a statistical view of the maximum allowed number of independent regions D expressed by the molecule, dependent on Omega(t). We illustrate the distribution properties of D along with upper limit estimates of the regioinformation mu, also dependent on Omega(t). Integer statistics based on elementary number theory establish the key distribution properties of D and mu. In so doing, the traits distinguishing high regioinformation molecules are enumerated. The statistical approach encompasses all possible molecules and conditions, not just those reported to date in chemical databases. The aim is to view the regioinformation expressed by molecules in an alternative and general way.     

Boron-containing nucleosides. 1. Synthesis of the novel heterocycle 2-benzyl-1,4-dihydro-1-hydroxythieno[3,2-c][1,5,2]diazaborin-3(2H)-one: A thieno-fused 4-borauracil

The synthesis of the novel boron-containing nucleobase 2-benzyl-1,4-dihydro-1-hydroxythieno[3,2-c]-[1,5,2]diazaborin-3(2H)-one ( 8 ), a thieno-fused 4-borauracil, is described. Compound 8 was prepared in three steps starting from 2-thiophenecarbonyl chloride ( 4 ). A multinuclear and multisolvent nmr study of 8 indicates that the boron atom maintains a trigonal geometry in the solvents used.     

Proton spin-lattice relaxation studies. N-aryl-1-isoindolinones

Proton spin-lattice relaxation rates (R₁ values) have been measured, at 270 MHz, for a series of N-aryl isoindolinones. A normalization procedure has been used to enable comparison of R₁ values in different compounds by minimizing the effects on relaxation rates of changes in motional correlation times accompanying changes in substitution patterns. A substantial (4.3-fold) dynamic range of R₁ values has been observed, and individual values have been correlated with the molecular environments of the nuclei. There is evidence for an interring relaxation process.     

The use of high-speed differential scanning calorimetry (Hyper-DSC™) to study the thermal properties of carbamazepine polymorphs

The thermal properties of two polymorphs of the drug carbamazepine, Forms I and III, were studied using high-speed differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Previously, accurate determination of the heat enthalpy of fusion of Form III has not been possible using DSC at typical heating rates, due to concurrent exothermic recrystallisation to the higher-melting Form I. Here, it is demonstrated that heating rates of 250° C/min altered the kinetics of the melting transition of Form III such that this concurrent exothermic recrystallisation was inhibited. This allowed direct measurement of the enthalpy of the melting endotherm for Form III from a single transition. The enthalpy of this transition was found to be 109.5 J/g. Further investigations were then performed to test the utility of this technique in quantifying relative amounts of Forms I and III in mixtures of the two polymorphs. It was demonstrated that a limit of detection of 1% (w/w) was possible in this system. However, accurate quantification was not possible due to seeding effects initiating recrystallisation to Form I in these mixtures, even at these elevated heating rates. The utility of this novel technique as a fast analytical tool for studying the polymorphic behaviour of metastable polymorphs has been successfully demonstrated.