Diastereo‐ and Enantioselective Copper(I)‐Catalyzed Intermolecular [3+2] Cycloaddition of Azomethine Ylides with β‐Trifluoromethyl β,β‐Disubstituted Enones

Reported herein is an asymmetric [3+2] cycloaddition reaction of azomethine ylides with β‐trifluoromethyl β,β‐disubstituted enones, a reaction which is enabled by a Ming‐Phos‐derived copper(I) catalyst (Ming‐Phos=chiral sulfinamide monophosphines, Figure 2 ). This method provides scalable and efficient access to the highly substituted pyrrolidines with a trifluoromethylated, all‐carbon quaternary stereocenter in good yields with up to greater than 20:1 d.r. and 98 % ee. The reaction has a broad substrate scope and tolerates a wide range of functional groups.     

Enantioselective Rhodium‐Catalyzed Atom‐Economical Macrolactonization

A highly attractive route toward macrolactones, which form the cyclic scaffold of a multitude of diverse natural compounds, is described. Although many chemical approaches to this structural motif have been explored, an asymmetric variant of the cyclization is unprecedented. Herein we present an enantioselective macrolactonization through an intramolecular atom‐economical rhodium‐catalyzed coupling of ω‐allenyl‐substituted carboxylic acids. The use of a modified diop ligand, chiral DTBM‐diop, led to high enantioselectivity (up to 93 % ee). The reaction tolerated a large variety of functionalities, including α,β‐unsaturated carboxylic acids and depsipeptides, and provided the desired macrocycles with very high enantio‐ and diastereoselectivity.     

Ligand Functionalization in Metal–Organic Frameworks for Enhanced Carbon Dioxide Adsorption

Ligand functionalization in metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) has been studied extensively and has been demonstrated to enhance gas adsorption and induce interesting gas adsorption phenomena. This account summarizes our recent study of three series of MOFs by ligand functionalization, as well as their carbon dioxide adsorption properties. While ligand functionalization does not change the overall structure of the frameworks, it can influence their gas adsorption behavior. In the first two series, we show how ligand functionalization influences the CO₂ affinity and adsorption capacity of MOFs. We also show a special case in which subtle changes in ligand functionality alter the CO₂ adsorption profile.

     

Synthesis,structure, thermostability and luminescence properties of ZnII and CdII coordination polymers based on dimethysuccinate and flexible 1,4‐bis(imidazol‐1‐ylmethyl)benzene ligands

The design and synthesis of functional coordination polymers is motivated not only by their structural beauty but also by their potential applications. Zn^II and Cd^II coordination polymers are promising candidates for producing photoactive materials because these d¹⁰ metal ions not only possess a variety of coordination numbers and geometries, but also exhibit luminescence properties when bound to functional ligands. It is difficult to predict the final structure of such polymers because the assembly process is influenced by many subtle factors. Bis(imidazol‐1‐yl)‐substituted alkane/benzene molecules are good bridging ligands because their flexibility allows them to bend and rotate when they coordinate to metal centres. Two new Zn^II and Cd^II coordination polymers based on mixed ligands, namely, poly[[μ₂‐1,4‐bis(imidazol‐1‐ylmethyl)benzene‐κ²N³:N^3′]bis(μ₃‐2,2‐dimethylbutanoato‐κ³O¹:O⁴:O^4′)dizinc(II)], [Zn₂(C₆H₈O₄)₂(C₁₄H₁₄N₄)]_n, and poly[[μ₂‐1,4‐bis(imidazol‐1‐ylmethyl)benzene‐κ²N³:N^3′]bis(μ₃‐2,2‐dimethylbutanoato‐κ⁵O¹,O^1′:O⁴,O^4′:O⁴)dicadmium(II)], [Cd₂(C₆H₈O₄)₂(C₁₄H₁₄N₄)]_n, have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. Both complexes crystallize in the monoclinic space group C2/c with similar unit‐cell parameters and feature two‐dimensional structures formed by the interconnection of S‐shaped Zn(Cd)–2,2‐dimethylsuccinate chains with 1,4‐bis(imidazol‐1‐ylmethyl)benzene bridges. However, the Cd^II and Zn^II centres have different coordination numbers and the 2,2‐dimethylsuccinate ligands display different coordination modes. Both complexes exhibit a blue photoluminescence in the solid state at room temperature.     

Two-dimensional supramolecular assembly of phenylmercury(II) and cadmium(II) complexes with a tridentate thiohydrazone NNS donor ligand: Synthesis,coordination behavior and crystal structure

The reaction of phenylmercury(II) acetate and cadmium(II) acetate with a refluxed solution of diacetylmonoxime and morpholine N-thiohydrazide formed a novel phenylmercury(II) complex, [PhHg(Hdammthiol)] (1) and a cadmium(II) complex, [Cd(Hdammthiol)₂] (2), respectively (where H₂dammthiol is the thiol form of diacetylmonoximemorpholine N-thiohydrazone (Hdammth) formed by the condensation of diacetylmonoxime and morpholine N-thiohydrazide in the presence of phenylmercury(II) and cadmium(II) ions). The complexes were characterised by elemental analyses and spectral data (electronic, infrared and ¹H NMR) and also by X-ray crystal structure analysis. The X-ray crystallography shows that the phenylmercury(II) complex attained a tricoordinated distorted T-shaped structure, while the cadmium(II) complex attained a trapezoidal bipyramidal geometry. The phenylmercury(II) complex forms a two-dimensional sheet via C–H?O and O–H?N hydrogen bonding and also forms a two-dimensional supramolecular dimer, having C–H?π synthons. Intermolecular C–H?O and O–H?O hydrogen bonding of the cadmium(II) complex forms a two-dimensional supramolecular sheet along the bc plane and posses an impressively short intermolecular C(sp³)?O(sp³) contact.     

First examples of neutral rhenium(V) complexes with a novel semi-rigid ligand containing a P,N,N,S donor atom set: Synthesis,characterisation and crystal structure

A new PN₂S ligand, N-[2-(diphenylphosphino)phenyl]-2-[(S-trityl)acetylamino]ethanamide [Ph-P(Ph₂)N₂S(Trt)], was synthesised and reacted with Re^V precursors. The reaction of both tritylated and detritylated ligands with ReOCl₃(PPh₃)₂ gave the same expected neutral complex [ReO{Ph-P(Ph₂)N₂S}] (4) in good yield. An unexpected neutral and diamagnetic species, [ReN{Ph-P(Ph₂)N₂S(Trt)}] (5), has been isolated during the complexation of the tritylated ligand with ReNCl₂(PPh₃)₂. The complexes, characterized by classical spectroscopic methods and X-ray analysis for 4, are the first examples of neutral semi-rigid-PN₂S rhenium(V) complexes.