Unusual Hypochlorous Acid (HClO) Recognition Mechanism Based on Chlorine–Oxygen Bond (Cl−O) Formation

One of the most important endogenous reactive oxygen species, hypochlorous acid (HClO), is involved in numerous pathological and physiological processes. Herein, a near-infrared fluorescence probe (CyHR) was designed and synthesized for ultrafast (within 0.2 s), sensitive (limit of detection=39.44 nm ), and selective response to HClO. The reaction mechanism was systematically analyzed by MS, ¹H NMR spectroscopy, HPLC-MS techniques, and theoretical calculations. The results indicated that HClO can be recognized by CyHR, which is based on chlorine–oxygen (Cl−O) bond formation. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to find Cl−O bonds among organic aromatic compounds, given that Cl−O bonds are common among inorganics. Through biological experiments, CyHR was successfully applied to image exogenous and endogenous HClO in macrophage cells (RAW 264.7). Thus, CyHR is a promising tool for HClO-related physiological and pathological studies and may provide a means for designing HClO-specific fluorescence probes.     

Electrochemical dehydrogenative N–H/N–H coupling reactions

The N–N bond is present in many important organic compounds, such as hydrazines, pyrazoles, azos, etc. Many methods based on transition metal catalyzed N–N coupling or functionalization of hydrazine have been reported for the synthesis of N–N containing organic compounds. In recent years, electrochemical dehydrogenative N–H/N–H coupling has become a powerful tool for the construction of N–N bearing organic compounds. The electrochemical methods employ electrons as traceless redox reagents instead of chemicals and produce hydrogen as the only byproduct. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in the electrochemical dehydrogenative N–H/N–H coupling reactions with focus on the mechanistic insights and synthetic applications of these transformations.     

An efficient,mild and selective Ullmann‐type N‐arylation of indoles catalysed by Pd immobilized on amidoxime‐functionalized mesoporous SBA‐15 as heterogeneous and recyclable nanocatalyst

A wide range of N‐arylated indoles were selectively synthesized through intermolecular C(aryl)? N bond formation from the corresponding aryl iodides and indoles through Ullmann‐type coupling reactions in the presence of a catalytic amount of Pd immobilized on amidoxime‐functionalized mesoporous SBA‐15 (SBA‐15/AO/Pd(0)) under mild reaction conditions. These cross‐coupled products were obtained in excellent yields under mild conditions at extremely low palladium loading (ca 0.3 mol%), and the heterogeneous catalyst can be readily recovered by simple filtration and reused seven times with loss in its activity. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strong Pancake 2e/12c Bond in π-Stacking Phenalenyl Derivatives Avoiding Bond Conversion

The nature of the 2e/12c bond and its conversion to a carbon-carbon single bond in phenalenyl dimers have prompted a great deal of interests recently. In this work, we theoretically investigated a series of π-stacking phenalenyl derivatives with 2e/12c bonding character by density functional theory (DFT) calculations to elucidate origin of this unusual bond conversion. Results show that bond-conversion of the phenalenyl dimer easily occurs at room-temperature both dynamically and thermodynamically. However, bond-conversion of hetero π-stacking adducts, in which the two center carbon atoms were substituted by boron and nitrogen atoms, respectively, is much more difficult, because the 2e/12c bond is stabilized by its charge transfer character. Consequently, the bond-conversion is an endothermic process, albeit with a low conversion barrier. Interestingly, Lewis acid-base interactions would be induced by substitution of the center nitrogen atom to phosphorus atom. The 2e/12c bond is further stabilized by 5.9 kcal mol⁻¹ and its conversion is also thermodynamically unfavorable.     

Efficient palladium-catalyzed C-S cross-coupling reaction of benzo-2,1,3-thiadiazole at C-5-position: A potential class of AChE inhibitors

Functionalization of 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (BTD) with thiols at C-5 position remains low explored. Moreover, the arylthiol-substitutions at this position are also unexplored and can not be found by a S_N2 or S_N1 reaction. In this sense, herein we present a new palladium-catalyzed methodology for a wide variety of unpublished 5-arylsulfanyl-benzo-2,1,3-thiadiazole derivatives synthesis with moderate to high yields using a low catalytic loading of Pd(L-Pro)₂ as low-coast, and efficient catalyst in low reaction time. Besides, we concluded that the pKa of thiol species has an important role in this catalysis, mainly in the CMD like catalytic cyclo process, which strongly interferes in the reaction yields. Furthermore, arylsulfanyl-benzo-2,1,3-thiadiazoles derivatives have been assessed (in vitro) as potential acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.     

Real-Space Interpretation of Interatomic Charge Transfer and Electron Exchange Effects by Combining Static and Kinetic Potentials and Associated Vector Fields**

Intricate behaviour of one-electron potentials from the Euler equation for electron density and corresponding gradient force fields in crystals was studied. Channels of locally enhanced kinetic potential and corresponding saddle Lagrange points were found between chemically bonded atoms. Superposition of electrostatic and kinetic potentials and electron density allowed partitioning any molecules and crystals into atomic - and potential-based -basins; -basins explicitly account for the electron exchange effect, which is missed for -ones. Phenomena of interatomic charge transfer and related electron exchange were explained in terms of space gaps between zero-flux surfaces of - and -basins. The gap between - and -basins represents the charge transfer, while the gap between - and -basins is a real-space manifestation of sharing the transferred electrons caused by the static exchange and kinetic effects as a response against the electron transfer. The regularity describing relative positions of -, -, and - basin boundaries between interacting atoms was proposed. The position of -boundary between - and -ones within an electron occupier atom determines the extent of transferred electron sharing. The stronger an H⋅⋅⋅O hydrogen bond is, the deeper hydrogen atom's -basin penetrates oxygen atom's -basin, while for covalent bonds a -boundary closely approaches a -one indicating almost complete sharing of the transferred electrons. In the case of ionic bonds, the same region corresponds to electron pairing within the -basin of an electron occupier atom.     

Photoinduced C(sp3)−N Bond Cleavage Leading to the Stereoselective Syntheses of Alkenes

Herein we report a versatile Mizoroki–Heck-type photoinduced C(sp³)−N bond cleavage reaction. Under visible-light irradiation (455 nm, blue LEDs) at room temperature, alkyl Katritzky salts react smoothly with alkenes in a 1:1 molar ratio in the presence of 1.0 mol % of commercially available photoredox catalyst without the need for any base, affording the corresponding alkyl-substituted alkenes in good yields with broad functional-group compatibility. Notably, the E/Z-selectivity of the alkene products can be controlled by an appropriate choice of photoredox catalyst.     

Density functional calculations for Rh(I)‐catalyzed C–C bond activation of siloxyvinylcyclopropanes and diazoesters

Density functional theory was employed to investigate rhodium(I)‐catalyzed C–C bond activation of siloxyvinylcyclopropanes and diazoesters. The B3LYP/6‐31G(d,p) level (LANL2DZ(f) for Rh) was used to optimize completely all intermediates and transition states. The computational results revealed that the most favorable pathway was the channel forming the methyl‐branched acyclic product p1 in path A (cyclooctadiene (cod) as the ligand), and the oxidative addition was the rate‐determining step for this channel. It proceeded mainly through the complexation of diazoester to rhodium, rhodium–carbene formation, coordination of siloxyvinylcyclopropane, oxidative addition (C2–C3 bond cleavage) of siloxyvinylcyclopropane, carbene migratory insertion, β‐hydrogen elimination and reductive elimination. The complexation of diazoester to rhodium occurred prior to the coordination of siloxyvinylcyclopropane. Also, the role of the ligands cod, chlorine and 1,4‐dioxane, the effect of di‐rhodium catalyst and the solvent effect are discussed in detail.     

Direct through anionic,cationic, and radical active species: Terminal carbon–halogen bond for “controlled”/living polymerizations of styrene

In this work, we examined the synthesis of novel block (co)polymers by mechanistic transformation through anionic, cationic, and radical living polymerizations using terminal carbon–halogen bond as the dormant species. First, the direct halogenation of growing species in the living anionic polymerization of styrene was examined with CCl₄ to form a carbon–halogen terminal, which can be employed as the dormant species for either living cationic or radical polymerization. The mechanistic transformation was then performed from living anionic polymerization into living cationic or radical polymerization using the obtained polymers as the macroinitiator with the SnCl₄/n‐Bu₄NCl or RuCp^*Cl(PPh₃)/Et₃N initiating system, respectively. Finally, the combination of all the polymerizations allowed the synthesis block copolymers including unprecedented gradient block copolymers composed of styrene and p‐methylstyrene. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 465–473     

Improvement in semipermeable membrane performance of wholly aromatic polyamide through an additive processing strategy

A new concept for the method to provide semipermeability in ultrathin and single‐component wholly aromatic polyamide membranes has been developed for the first time. It was found that water molecules could permeate through the membrane prepared not from polyamides containing flexible ether, bulky binaphthyl, or fluorene rigid units, but one with carboxylic acid groups under a reverse osmosis mode. However, the enhancement of water transport properties by introducing the hydrophilic group of polyamide was not substantial. Therefore, polyamide membranes were prepared from the solution containing aqueous additives in order to weaken hydrogen bonds between polymer chains and thereby to suppress the aggregation of the polymer chains. As a result, water flux was dramatically improved with slightly improved NaCl rejection. Our analyses based on attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and solid‐state carbon polarization and magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (¹³C CPMAS NMR) spectroscopy confirmed that the aggregation of polymer chains due to the hydrogen bonds among the amide linkages was suppressed by the co‐ordination of the aqueous additives to the amide linkage. The state of water in the membranes analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry also supported the formation of pores. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 1275–1281