Palladium/Copper‐Catalyzed Oxidative Arylation of Terminal Alkenes with Aroyl Hydrazides

An unprecedented oxidative arylation reaction of terminal alkenes with simple aroyl hydrazides has been developed under aerobic conditions for the stereoselective synthesis of 1,2‐disubstituted alkenes. A range of aroyl hydrazides underwent palladium/copper‐catalyzed oxidative Mizoroki–Heck reaction with terminal alkenes open to air in a 1:1 mixture of dimethyl sulfoxide and acetonitrile to give structurally diverse 1,2‐disubstituted alkenes in moderate to excellent yields with excellent regio‐ and E‐selectivity. The reaction tolerated a wide variety of functional groups, such as alkoxy, hydroxy, amino, fluoro, chloro, bromo, cyano, nitro, ester, amide, imide, phosphine oxide, and sulfone groups, and, moreover, molecular oxygen and dimethyl sulfoxide were demonstrated to serve as terminal oxidants. This study provides a useful method for the stereoselective synthesis of 1,2‐disubstituted alkenes through direct transformation of the vinylic C?H bonds in terminal alkenes.     

Synthesis of Polycyclic Indole Skeletons by a Gold(I)‐Catalyzed Cascade Reaction

The conversion of simple, easily available urea‐substituted 3‐phenylpropargyl alcohols catalyzed by a simple IPr–gold(I) catalyst in a gold(I)‐catalyzed cascade reaction composing of a gold‐catalyzed nucleophilic addition and a subsequent gold‐catalyzed substitution reaction delivers 1H‐imidazo[1, 5?a]indol‐3(2 H)‐ones. Other gold(I) catalysts or silver catalysts gave lower yields and often gave other side products. Gold(III) and copper(II) catalysts decomposed the starting material. Twelve examples, including donor and acceptor substituents on the distal nitrogen of the urea substructure, are provided. An X‐ray crystal structure analysis confirmed the structural assignment. The mechanistic investigation including isolation and further conversion of intermediates and reactions with enantiopure starting materials indicated that after the nucleophilic‐addition step, the substrate undergoes an S_N1‐type benzylic substitution reaction at the indolyl alcohol intermediate or an intramolecular hydroamination reaction of the 2‐vinylindole intermediate.     

Gold‐Catalyzed Cycloisomerization of Yne‐Vinylidenecyclopropanes: A Three‐Carbon Synthon for [3+2] Cycloadditions

A novel type of yne‐vinylidenecyclopropanes (VDCPs) has been synthesized and applied in gold‐catalyzed cycloisomerization reactions. It was found that these compounds can undergo an intramolecular cycloisomerization and perform as a three‐carbon synthon for [3+2] cycloaddition under gold catalysis to give fused [4.3.0] and [5.3.0] bicyclic derivatives and VDCP rearranged products in moderated to good yields under mild conditions. The substrate scope of these novel transformations has been explored and plausible reaction mechanisms have been presented on the basis of deuterium labeling experiments and DFT calculations.     

Thermal Ethane Activation by Bare [V2O5]+ and [Nb2O5]+ Cluster Cations: on the Origin of Their Different Reactivities

The gas‐phase reactivity of [V₂O₅]⁺ and [Nb₂O₅]⁺ towards ethane has been investigated by means of mass spectrometry and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The two metal oxides give rise to the formation of quite different reaction products; for example, the direct room‐temperature conversions C₂H₆→C₂H₅OH or C₂H₆→CH₃CHO are brought about solely by [V₂O₅]⁺. In distinct contrast, for the couple [Nb₂O₅]⁺/C₂H₆, one observes only single and double hydrogen‐atom abstraction from the hydrocarbon. DFT calculations reveal that different modes of attack in the initial phase of C?H bond activation together with quite different bond‐dissociation energies of the M?O bonds cause the rather varying reactivities of [V₂O₅]⁺ and [Nb₂O₅]⁺ towards ethane. The gas‐phase generation of acetaldehyde from ethane by bare [V₂O₅]⁺ may provide mechanistic insight in the related vanadium‐catalyzed large‐scale process.     

Effects of lignin and hemicellulose contents on dissolution of wood pulp in aqueous NaOH/urea solution

Four species of delignified woodchips with about 1 % lignin content (Chlorite–Woodchips) and a series of softwood pulps with different lignin contents were prepared by sodium chlorite delignification. After mechanical defibration, some Chlorite–Woodchips were directly subjected to dissolution treatment in NaOH/urea solvent; the others were first treated with NaOH solution to remove the hemicellulose to obtain NaOH–Chlorite–Woodchips or oxidized with potassium permanganate (OPP) to remove lignin completely to obtain OPP–Chlorite–Woodchips, and then subjected to the dissolution in NaOH/urea solvent. The results showed that the dissolved proportion of the Chlorite–Woodchips ranged from 36 to 46 %, the dissolved proportion of glucan was within 12 %, and most of the hemicellulose was dissolved in NaOH/urea solvent. Compared with Chlorite–Woodchips, the dissolved proportion of NaOH–Chlorite–Woodchips was lower, but their dissolved proportion of glucan was higher. After further permanganate delignification, both the dissolved proportion of the OPP–Chlorite–Woodchips and the dissolved proportion of glucan of the OPP–Chlorite–Woodchips were higher than those of the Chlorite–Woodchips. However, the dissolved proportion of glucan was still limited to only 15–30 %. The effect of the lignin content of softwood pulps on their dissolution is complicated. With the decrease of the lignin content of softwood pulp from 6.9 to 2.8 %, the dissolved proportion of pulp increased from 14 to 26 %. However, further reduction of lignin content from 2.8 to 0.3 % led to a decrease in the dissolved proportion of pulp from 26 to 12 %. The dissolved proportion of glucan followed the same tendency. These results indicated that the dissolution of wood cellulose in NaOH/urea solvent is not simply controlled by the hemicellulose and lignin contents, but also by some other factors.     

单茂钪催化非共轭双烯环化聚合及与乙烯共聚合的研究

以(C5Me4SiMe3)Sc(CH2C6H4NMe2-o)2和[Ph3C][B(C6F5)4]组成的单茂钪催化体系催化非共轭双烯均聚合及与乙烯共聚合,考察了聚合条件及非共轭双烯结构对聚合活性、产物分子量和微结构的影响.单茂钪催化体系中,单体浓度、聚合温度、聚合溶剂以及烷基铝试剂对1,5-己二烯的聚合活性和选择性以及聚合产物的分子量和分子量分布均有较大影响.室温甲苯溶剂中,单茂钪可以催化1,5-己二烯,1,6-庚二烯,1,7-辛二烯,1,9-癸二烯四种非共轭双烯聚合获得相应的聚合物;除1,9-癸二烯聚合获得不溶的交联聚合物外,其它非共轭双烯聚合均获得可溶的环烯烃聚合物.1,5-己二烯聚合形成亚甲基-1,3-环戊基(MCPN)五元环和四元环开环形成的3-乙烯基四亚甲基(VTM)结构单元.1,6-庚二烯聚合完全环化形成亚甲基-1,3-环己基(MCHX)六元环和乙烯基-1,2-环戊基(ECPN)五元环结构单元,1,7-辛二烯聚合形成亚甲基-1,3-环庚基(MCHP)七元环结构单元和未环化的悬挂己烯(HEB)结构单元.室温1.01×105Pa乙烯压力下,单茂钪催化体系还可以快速催化非共轭双烯1,5-己二烯,1,6-庚二烯,1,7-辛二烯,1,9-癸二烯与乙烯共聚合,获得含有环状结构单元、悬挂双键结构单元和聚乙烯嵌段的无规共聚物.在单茂钪催化非共轭双烯均聚合及与乙烯共聚合中,非共轭双烯的链长直接影响了其聚合活性和选择性.     

具有红光发射的稀土上转换发光纳米晶及其介孔直接功能化

红光发射稀土上转换发光纳米晶(UCNPs)在光动力治疗(PDT)等方面具有特定的优势。将油溶性的UCNPs通过表面改性转变为水溶性,对其在生物医疗、疾病诊断等方面的应用具有重要意义。利用一种简单易行的方法将具有红光发射的UCNPs进行介孔直接功能化表面修饰,制备了一种具有良好水溶性的纳米材料NaYF4:Yb/Er/Mn@mSiO2。实验结果表明该材料核-壳结构明显,形貌均一,在980 nm的激发下保持了上转换发光特性。该材料在光动力治疗等方面具有良好的潜在应用价值。     

2-(4’-羧基苯基)咪唑-4,5-二羧酸构筑的稀土(Gd,Dy)MOFs的合成、晶体结构及与DNA作用

由2-(4’-羧基苯基)咪唑-4,5-二羧酸(HCPhIDC,C12H8N2O6,H4L)和稀土硝酸盐合成了两个稀土配合物[Ln(HCPhIDC)(H2O)2]·3H2O(Ln=Gd(1),Dy(2)),通过元素分析、红外光谱对其进行表征,用单晶X射线衍射方法测定了配合物的晶体结构。结构分析表明:两种晶体属于异质同晶型,同属于三斜晶系,空间群为P1,具有(3,6)-双节点的二维(43)(46·66·83)拓扑结构。测定了配体和配合物与EBDNA体系的作用,结果表明:配体本身对DNA的插入作用很强,而在与稀土离子形成配合物以后,其插入作用反而减弱,这是由于配体本身的分子结构具有良好的平面性,可以很好地插入到DNA的双螺旋结构中,当形成配合物后,整个分子的平面性反而降低了,从而导致插入作用减弱,因此猝灭常数大大降低。     

单茂钪催化剂（C5H5）Sc（CH2C6H4NMe2-o）2合成高顺式窄分布聚丁二烯

合成了6种单茂稀土催化剂Cp’LnR2(THF)n(其中,Cp’=C5H5,C5Me4SiMe3;R=CH2C6H4NMe2-o,CH2SiMe3;Ln=Sc,Y,Lu;n=0或1),并以[Ph3C][B(C6F5)4]为助催化剂,甲苯为溶剂,考察催化剂结构对丁二烯聚合活性,立体选择性,催化剂利用率以及聚合物分子量和分子量分布的影响.通过1H-NMR,13C-NMR,FTIR,GPC以及DSC对聚丁二烯进行表征,结果表明,当Cp’=C5H5,R=CH2C6H4NMe2-o,Ln=Sc,n=0时,催化剂(C5H5)Sc(CH2C6H4NMe2-o)2对丁二烯聚合活性最高,可达9600 kg-polymer/mol-Sc·h,催化剂利用率为45%,聚丁二烯顺-1,4结构含量在96%~98%之间,分子量分布窄,指数在1.3左右;以甲苯或氯苯作为聚合溶剂时,聚合活性最高,聚丁二烯分子量保持窄分布,在所有溶剂中聚丁二烯顺-1,4结构含量均达到96%以上;催化剂聚合活性随温度下降而降低,而聚合物分子量分布有变窄的趋势,温度对聚丁二烯立体选择性无明显影响;当[Bd]/[Sc]摩尔比从500增加到3000时,聚合反应1 min转化率均达到100%,聚丁二烯分子量呈可控线性增大,最高达44.6×104,且均保持聚合物窄分布.DSC谱图表明聚丁二烯Tg为-107℃,当升降温速率为10 K/min时,在-63℃和-8℃附近呈现出明显的冷结晶峰和熔融峰.     

[B30]−: A Quasiplanar Chiral Boron Cluster

Chirality is vital in chemistry. Its importance in atomic clusters has been recognized since the discovery of the first chiral fullerene, the D₂ symmetric C₇₆. ¹ A number of gold clusters have been found to be chiral, ² raising the possibility to use them as asymmetric catalysts. The discovery of clusters with enantiomeric structures is essential to design new chiral materials with tailored chemical and physical properties. ³ Herein we report the first inherently chiral boron cluster of [B₃₀]^? in a joint photoelectron spectroscopy and theoretical study. The most stable structure of [B₃₀]^? is found to be quasiplanar with a hexagonal hole. Interestingly, a pair of enantiomers arising from different positions of the hexagonal hole are found to be degenerate in our global minimum searches and both should co‐exist experimentally because they have identical electronic structures and give rise to identical simulated photoelectron spectra.