Chugaev‐type bis(acyclic diaminocarbenes) as a new ligand class for the palladium‐catalyzed Mizoroki–Heck reaction

A series of differently substituted Chugaev‐type palladium bis(acyclic diaminocarbene) complexes was screened to identify the most active catalyst for Mizoroki–Heck coupling reactions of aryl bromides with styrene. The best catalyst, which contains three methyl groups on the bis(carbene) ligand, gives excellent coupling yields at 120 °C for both activated and deactivated aryl bromides. However, activity with aryl chlorides is limited to electron‐deficient examples. The optimized catalyst demonstrates limited air and moisture stability, giving reduced yields in couplings of activated aryl bromides in open‐flask conditions. The modular synthesis of this class of catalysts should allow further fine‐tuning of activity in Mizoroki–Heck and related coupling reactions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enantiocontrol in Macrocycle Formation from Catalytic Metal Carbene Transformations

The development of catalytic metal carbene transformations for the construction of macrocyclic lactones has dramatically increased their synthetic advantages. This is the first review of this Developing methodology. The research described in this review has been supported by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society.     

Quasi‐living copolymerization of ethylene with 1‐hexene by heteroligated (salicylaldiminato β‐enaminoketonato) titanium complexes

A series of heteroligated (salicylaldiminato)(β‐enaminoketonato)titanium complexes [3‐Bu^t‐2‐OC₆H₃CH = N(C₆F₅)] [PhN = C(R₁)CHC(R₂)O]TiCl₂ [ 3a : R₁ = CF₃, R₂ = ^tBu; 3b : R₁ = Me, R₂ = CF₃; 3c : R₁ = CF₃, R₂ = Ph; 3d : R₁ = CF₃, R₂ = C₆H₄Ph(p ); 3e : R₁ = CF₃, R₂ = C₆H₄Ph(o ); 3f : R = CF₃, R₂ = C₆H₄Cl(p ); 3g : R₁ = CF₃; R₂ = C₆H₃Cl₂(2,5); 3h : R₁ = CF₃, R₂ = C₆H₄Me(p )] were investigated as catalysts for ethylene (co)polymerization. In the presence of modified methylaluminoxane as a cocatalyst, these complexes showed activities about 50%–1000% and 10%–100% higher than their corresponding bis(β‐enaminoketonato) titanium complexes for ethylene homo‐ and ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization, respectively. They produced high or moderate molecular weight copolymers with 1‐hexene incorporations about 10%–200% higher than their homoligated counterpart pentafluorinated FI‐Ti complex. Among them, complex 3b displayed the highest activity [2.06 × 10⁶ g/mol_Ti?h], affording copolymers with the highest 1‐hexene incorporations of 34.8 mol% under mild conditions. Moreover, catalyst 3h with electron‐donating group not only exhibited much higher 1‐hexene incorporations (9.0 mol% vs. 3.2 mol%) than pentafluorinated FI‐Ti complex but also generated copolymers with similar narrow molecular weight distributions (M _w/M _n = 1.20–1.26). When the 1‐hexene concentration in the feed was about 2.0 mol/L and the hexene incorporation of resultant polymer was about 9.0 mol%, a quasi‐living copolymerization behavior could be achieved. ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopic analysis of their resulting copolymers demonstrated the possible copolymerization mechanism, which was related with the chain initiation, monomer insertion style, chain transfer and termination during the polymerization process. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55 , 2787–2797     

cis‐1,4‐specific carbocationic polymerization and copolymerization of 1,3‐dienes initiated by (S,S)‐bis(oxazolinylphenyl)amine chromium complexes

Two new chiral (S,S)‐bis(oxazolinylphenyl)amine chromium dichloride complexes have been synthesized and structurally characterized. In combination with 2 equiv. of borate and an excess of AlR₃, such Cr complexes serve as effective cationic initiators in the stereoregular carbocationic polymerization of 1,3‐dienes such as isoprene (IP) and myrcene (MY), affording cyclized cis‐1,4‐PIPs/PMys (cis‐1,4‐selectivity up to 96%) with cyclic sequence contents ranging from 26% to 87%. Moreover, these Cr initiator systems also exhibit an unprecedented control over sequence distribution of comonomers in the carbocationic copolymerization of IP and MY, preparing novel copolymers with different microstructures from mainly cyclized cis‐1,4‐specific statistical copolymers to cyclic olefin copolymers. The nature of Cr complex, borate, AlR₃, temperature, molar ratio of comonomers has considerable effect on the (co)polymer's yield, stereoselectivity, cyclization, and comonomer sequence distribution. A plausible mechanism is suggested, which gives a new strategy for biomimetic synthesis of natural rubber. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 55, 1250–1259     

Catalytic Ketonization of Carboxylic Acids Synthesis of Saturated and Unsaturated Ketones

Activity of 20wt% MO₂/Al₂O₃ catalysts, where M = Mn, Ce and Zr has been studied in ketonisation of the mixtures of propanoic/pentanoic, ethanoic/10-undecenoic and hexanoic/(Z)-9-octadecenoic (oleic) acids. Irrespective of the molecular weights and molar ratios of reacting acids, high yields of ketones were obtained over Mn and Ce oxide catalysts at approximately 673 K. Isomerization of C=C double bonds and partial pyrolysis occurred during catalytic ketonization of 10-undecenoic and oleic acids, diminishing slightly the yield of ketones. The preparation of (Z)-14-tricosen-6-one has been performed, being the starting material for the synthesis of (Z)-9-tricosene - sex attractant of male house fly.     

Synthesis of poly(1‐chloro‐2‐arylacetylene)s with high cis‐content and examination of their absorption/emission properties

A series of 1‐chloro‐2‐arylacetylenes [Cl‐C?C‐Ar, Ar = C₆H₅ ( 1 ), C₆H₄‐p‐i Pr ( 2 ), C₆H₄‐p‐Oi Pr ( 3 ), C₆H₄‐p‐NHC(O)Ot Bu ( 4 ), and C₆H₄‐o‐i Pr ( 5 )] were polymerized using (tBu₃P)PdMeCl/silver trifluoromethanesulfonate (AgOTf) and MoCl₅/SnBu₄ catalysts. The corresponding polymers [poly( 1 )–poly( 5 )] with weight‐average molecular weights of 6,500–690,000 were obtained in 10–91% yields. THF‐insoluble parts, presumably high‐molecular weight polymers, were formed together with THF‐soluble polymers by the Pd‐catalyzed polymerization. The Pd catalyst polymerized nonpolar monomers 1 and 2 to give the polymers in yields lower than the Mo catalyst, while the Pd catalyst polymerized polar monomers 3 and 4 to give the corresponding polymers in higher yields. The ¹H NMR and UV–vis absorption spectra of the polymers indicated that the cis‐contents of the Pd‐based polymers were higher than those of the Mo‐based polymers, and the conjugation length of the Pd‐based polymers was shorter than that of the Mo‐based polymers. Pd‐based poly( 5 ) emitted fluorescence most strongly among poly( 1 )–poly( 5 ). © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55 , 382–388     

Highly Active and Robust Metalloporphyrin Catalysts for the Synthesis of Cyclic Carbonates from a Broad Range of Epoxides and Carbon Dioxide

Bifunctional metalloporphyrins with quaternary ammonium bromides (nucleophiles) at the meta, para, or ortho positions of meso‐phenyl groups were synthesized as catalysts for the formation of cyclic carbonates from epoxides and carbon dioxide under solvent‐free conditions. The meta‐substituted catalysts exhibited high catalytic performance, whereas the para‐ and ortho‐substituted catalysts showed moderate and low activity, respectively. DFT calculations revealed the origin of the advantage of the meta‐substituted catalyst, which could use the flexible quaternary ammonium cation at the meta position to stabilize various anionic species generated during catalysis. A zinc(II) porphyrin with eight nucleophiles at the meta positions showed very high catalytic activity (turnover number (TON)=240 000 at 120 °C, turnover frequency (TOF)=31 500 h^?1 at 170 °C) at an initial CO₂ pressure of 1.7 MPa; catalyzed the reaction even at atmospheric CO₂ pressure (balloon) at ambient temperature (20 °C); and was applicable to a broad range of substrates, including terminal and internal epoxides.     

Surfactant‐Assisted Nanocrystalline Zinc Coordination Polymers: Controlled Particle Sizes and Synergistic Effects in Catalysis

Different morphologies and particle sizes of two crystalline zinc‐based coordination polymers (CPs), [Zn(pytz)H₂O]_n ( 1 ; H₂pytz=2,6‐bis(tetrazole)pyridine) and [Zn₂(pytz)₂4 H₂O] ( 2 ), from the bulk scale to the nanoscale, could be obtained under solvothermal conditions with different surfactants (polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) or polyethylene glycol (PEG) 2000) as templates. PVP and PEG 2000 could act as capping and structure‐directing agents, respectively, to influence the growth of crystalline particles and control their sizes. CP 1 exhibits a two‐dimensional framework with window‐like units and 2 shows a bimetallic structure. Nanocrystalline 1 and 2 were used as heterogeneous catalysts to study how adjacent catalytic active sites synergistically effected their catalytic reactivities in the direct catalytic conversion of aromatic dinitriles into oxazolines. The results showed that 1 produced bis‐oxazolines as the sole products, whereas 2 gave the mono‐oxazolines as the major products under the same reaction conditions.