Asymmetric synthesis of vicinal amino alcohols: xestoaminol C, sphinganine and sphingosine

The highly diastereoselective anti-aminohydroxylation of alpha,beta-unsaturated esters, via conjugate addition of lithium (S)-N-benzyl-N-(alpha-methylbenzyl)amide and subsequent in situ enolate oxidation with (+)-(camphorsulfonyl)oxaziridine, has been used as the key step in the asymmetric synthesis of N,O-diacetyl xestoaminol C (41% yield over 8 steps), N,O,O-triacetyl sphinganine (30% yield over 8 steps) and N,O,O-triacetyl sphingosine (30% yield over 7 steps).     

Unconventional metal organic frameworks: porous cross-linked phosphonates

The past decade has witnessed an exponential growth of metal organic framework compounds (MOFs). The defining character of these compounds is their porosity. However, in many cases no effort was made to show evidence that a stable porous structure has been achieved and that the pores may be accessed. In the present paper we describe recent work on porous pillared zirconium diphosphonates, and the newer and in many respects different characteristics of tin(iv) phosphonates. The Sn(IV) monophosphonates form spherical globules that exhibit very high surface areas. The surface area arises from their nano-sized particles that pack in a "house of cards" arrangement. Also, it is shown that the 1,4-monophenyldiphosphonic acid forms highly porous (250-400 m2 g(-1)) materials with Sn(IV) when prepared in alcohol-water media. This is not the case with analogous Zr(IV) compounds. The many variations in the syntheses of both the zirconium and tin aryl- and alkyldiphosphonate pillars and their combinations with spacers such as methyl- and monophenylphosphonic acid have created a variety of highly porous materials that are stable to 400 degrees C in air, highly stable in acid media, do not collapse when de-solvated, and can be post and presynthesis altered to include functional groups. Several new directions taken by other researchers are also described. However, it is emphasized in this presentation that the cross-linked compounds form particles that precipitate rapidly into nanoparticles that exhibit only short range order. Therefore, they differ from the more conventional MOFs in that they are not amenable to structure solution by X-ray or neutron diffraction techniques. Rather, they must be understood on the basis of modeling and indirect data from EM, NMR, and additional spectroscopic and textural studies.     

Low viscosity reversed hexagonal mesophases induced by hydrophilic additives

This study reports on the formation of a low viscosity H(II) mesophase at room temperature upon addition of Transcutol (diethylene glycol mono ethyl ether) or ethanol to the ternary mixture of GMO (glycerol monooleate)/TAG (tricaprylin)/water. The microstructure and bulk properties were characterized in comparison with those of the low viscosity HII mesophase formed in the ternary GMO/TAG/water mixture at elevated temperatures (35-40 degrees C). We characterized the role of Transcutol or ethanol as inducers of disorder and surfactant mobility. The techniques used were rheology, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide- and small-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS and SAXS, respectively), NMR (self-diffusion and (2)H NMR), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies. The incorporation of either Transcutol or ethanol induced the formation of less ordered HII mesophases with smaller domain sizes and lattice parameters at room temperature (up to 30 degrees C), similar to those found for the GMO/TAG/water mixture at more elevated temperatures (35-40 degrees C). On the basis of our measurements, we suggest that Transcutol or ethanol causes dehydration of the GMO headgroups and enhances the mobility of the GMO chains. As a result, these two small molecules, which compete for water with the GMO polar headgroups, may increase the curvature of the cylindrical micelles and also perhaps reduce their length. This results in the formation of fluid H(II) structures at room temperature (up to 30 degrees C). It is possible that these phases are a prelude to the H(II)-L(2) transformation, which takes place above 35 degrees C.     

1H chemical shifts in NMR. Part 27: proton chemical shifts in sulfoxides and sulfones and the magnetic anisotropy, electric field and steric effects of the SO bond

The (1)H chemical shifts of a series of sulfoxide and sulfone compounds in CDCl(3) solvent were obtained from experiment and the literature. These included dialkyl sulfoxides and sulfones (R(2)SO/R(2)SO(2), R = Me, Et, Pr, n-Bu), the cyclic compounds tetramethylene sulfoxide/sulfone, pentamethylene sulfoxide/sulfone and the aromatic compounds p-tolylmethylsulfoxide, dibenzothiopheneoxide/dioxide, E-9-phenanthrylmethylsulfoxide and (E) (Z)-1-methylsulfinyl-2-methylnaphthalene. The spectra of the pentamethylene SO and SO(2) compounds were obtained at -70 degrees C to obtain the spectra from the separate conformers (SO) and from the noninverting ring (SO(2)). This allowed the determination of the substituent chemical shifts (SCS) of the SO and SO(2) functional groups, which were analyzed in terms of the SO bond electric field, magnetic anisotropy and steric effect for long-range protons together with a model (CHARGE8d) for the calculation of the two and three bond effects. After parameterization, the overall root mean square (RMS) error (observed-calculated) for a dataset of 354 (1)H chemical shifts was 0.11 ppm. The anisotropy of the SO bond was found to be very small, supporting the dominant single bond S(+)--O(-) character of this bond.     

Accurate calculation of the bound states of Hellmann potential

Bound states of the Hellmann potential, which is a superposition of the attractive Coulomb (?A/r) and the Yukawa (Be ^?Cr /r) potential, are calculated by using a generalized pseudospectral method. Energy eigenvalues accurate up to 13–14 significant figures, and densities are obtained through a nonuniform, optimal spatial discretization of the radial Schrödinger equation. Both ground and excited states are reported for arbitrary values of the potential parameters covering a wide range of interaction. Calculations have been made for higher states as well as for stronger couplings. Some new states are reported here for the first time, which could be useful for future works. The present results are significantly improved in accuracy over all other existing literature values and offers a simple, accurate and efficient scheme for these and other singular potentials in quantum mechanics.     

Anharmonic vibrational frequencies and vibrationally averaged structures and nuclear magnetic resonance parameters of FHF-

The anharmonic vibrational frequencies of FHF(-) were computed by the vibrational self-consistent-field, configuration-interaction, and second-order perturbation methods with a multiresolution composite potential energy surface generated by the electronic coupled-cluster method with various basis sets. Anharmonic vibrational averaging was performed for the bond length and nuclear magnetic resonance indirect spin-spin coupling constants, where the latter computed by the equation-of-motion coupled-cluster method. The calculations placed the vibrational frequencies at 580 (nu(1)), 1292 (nu(2)), 1313 (nu(3)), 1837 (nu(1) + nu(3)), and 1864 cm(-1) (nu(1) + nu(2)), the zero-point H-F bond length (r(0)) at 1.1539 A, the zero-point one-bond spin-spin coupling constant [(1)J(0)(HF)] at 124 Hz, and the bond dissociation energy (D(0)) at 43.3 kcal/mol. They agreed excellently with the corresponding experimental values: nu(1) = 583 cm(-1), nu(2) = 1286 cm(-1), nu(3) = 1331 cm(-1), nu(1) + nu(3) = 1849 cm(-1), nu(1) + nu(2) = 1858 cm(-1), r(0) = 1.1522 A, (1)J(0)(HF) = 124+/-3 Hz, and D(0) = 44.4+/-1.6 kcal/mol. The vibrationally averaged bond lengths matched closely the experimental values of five excited vibrational states, furnishing a highly dependable basis for correct band assignments. An adiabatic separation of high- (nu(3)) and low-frequency (nu(1)) stretching modes was examined and found to explain semiquantitatively the appearance of a nu(1) progression on nu(3). Our calculations predicted a value of 186 Hz for experimentally inaccessible (2)J(0)(FF).     

One-dimensional inorganic arrangement in the bismuth oxalate hydroxide Bi(C2O4)OH

Single crystals of Bi(C₂O₄)OH were obtained by the slow diffusion of Bi³⁺ cations through silica gel impregnated with oxalic acid. The structure was solved in the Pnma space group with a=6.0853(2) Å, b=11.4479(3) Å, c=5.9722(2) Å, leading to R=0.0188 and wR=0.0190 from 513 unique reflections. The bismuth coordination polyhedron is a BiO₆E pentagonal bipyramid with the lone pair E sitting at an axial vertex. The opposite axial vertex is occupied by a hydroxyl oxygen atom, which is also an equatorial corner of a neighboring BiO₆E bipyramid. The sharing of the hydroxyl oxygen atoms build zig-zag chains running down the [100] direction. These chains are aligned in a sheet parallel to the (010) plane and are further connected through oxalate ions to form a three-dimensional arrangement. On heating, Bi(C₂O₄)OH decomposes to the meta-stable quadratic β-Bi₂O₃ phase.     

Solvothermal synthesis and characterization of two high-nuclearity mixed-valent manganese phosphonate clusters

Two novel mixed-valent manganese (Mn(II)/Mn(III)) cluster compounds were synthesized in solvothermal reactions and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, bond valence sum calculations, IR spectra, elemental analysis, and magnetic measurements. Compound 1 is a Mn 19 cluster with a cylindrical core structure. Compound 2 possess a Mn 16 core where all of the manganese sites have unique ligation environments. The magnetic measurements on both compounds indicate dominant antiferromagnetic interactions between the metal centers.     

Charge transfer stabilization of an excess electron on a molecular surface

In a developed molecular surface model (Jalbout and Adamowicz, Mol Phys, 2006, 19, 3101), we suggested a series of cyclohexane and cyclooctane systems with a hydrogen‐bonded network of OH groups on one side of the surface and hydrogen atoms on the opposite side. The OH groups in this work increased the dipole moment of the complexes in order to form stable dipole bound anions. In this report we consider the dipole‐bound and solvated anions between a set of hypothetical molecular surfaces and NH₃BF₃. The resulting complexes are stable with respect to vertical electron detachment. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2008