A practical and efficient synthesis of 6-carboalkoxy-13-cycloalkyl-5H-indolo[2,1-a][2]benzazepine-10-carboxylic acid derivatives

A convenient and practical synthesis of 6-carboalkoxy-13-cycloalkyl-5H-indolo[2,1-a][2]benzazepine-10-carboxylic acid derivatives (6) has been developed. The key step in the synthesis utilizes an intramolecular tandem reaction sequence of a Michael addition followed by a Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons (HWE) olefination reaction between hemi-aminal 11 and methyl 2-(dimethoxyphosphoryl)acrylate 12. The ring construction occurred efficiently and purification of the products 6 was straightforward. The C-10 methyl ester of 6a was hydrolyzed selectively to the carboxylic acid 13 while the olefin of 6d was converted to the cyclopropane 14 using trimethylsulfoxonium iodide in DMSO in the presence of NaH.     

An efficient and regioselective one-pot multi-component synthesis of pyrimido[4,5-d]pyrimidine derivatives in water

Pyrimido[4,5-d]pyrimidine derivatives 4 have been prepared in an efficient and regioselective manner in water via multi-component reaction of isothiocyanate 1, aromatic aldehyde 2, N,N-dimethyl-6-amino uracil 3 in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TSA) as a Lewis acid catalyst.     

Synthesis of a furano abietane cyano enone—A new scaffold for biological exploration

A six step synthesis of furano abietane cyano enone 12 is described, in which the key step is a palladium-catalyzed intramolecular Heck reaction of bromo 3-phenoxyacrylate 17, prepared from enone phenol 13 in high yield.     

Asymmetric aldol reactions catalyzed by the promiscuous aldo–ketoreductase enzyme

The promiscuous aldo–ketoreductase (AKR) enzyme is used as a sustainable biocatalyst for the first time to catalyze asymmetric aldol reactions in aqueous medium. The reactions between aromatic aldehydes and cyclic/acyclic ketones give the corresponding products in moderate yields and enantioselectivities in the presence of water. The influence of solvents, the mole ratio of substrates, and enzyme concentration are investigated. The mechanism of the AKR1A1-catalyzed aldol reaction is also discussed.     

Synthesis of functionalized N-triazolyl maleimides

An easy and mild two-step one-pot reaction allowed the synthesis of functionalized N-triazolyl maleimide. Next, the addition of propargyl alcohol and propargyl amine to the N-acyliminium ion mediated by Lewis acid, In(OTf)₃, allowed the introduction of a second 1,2,3-triazol ring at position 5 of the amide. The products in both reactions were achieved in moderate to good yields.     

Stereoselective total synthesis of oplopandiol,oploxyne A,and oploxyne B

A stereoselective total synthesis of oplopandiol, oploxyne A, and (−)-oploxyne B is described. The key reactions include Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation, d-proline catalyzed aminoxylation, Cadiot–Chodkiewicz cross-coupling reaction, m-CPBA induced substrate-controlled stereoselective epoxidation, and Lewis acid catalyzed stereo- and regioselective ring-opening of epoxide.     

Design of a reaction field using a linear‐combination‐based isotropic periodic sum method

In our previous study (Takahashi et al., J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2012, 8, 4503), we developed the linear‐combination‐based isotropic periodic sum (LIPS) method. The LIPS method is based on the extended isotropic periodic sum theory that produces a ubiquitous interaction potential function to estimate homogeneous and heterogeneous systems. The LIPS theory also provides the procedure to design a periodic reaction field. To demonstrate this, in the present work, a novel reaction field of the LIPS method was developed. The novel reaction field was labeled LIPS‐SW, because it provides an interaction potential function with a shape that resembles that of the switch function method. To evaluate the ability of the LIPS‐SW method to describe in homogeneous and heterogeneous systems, we carried out molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of bulk water and water–vapor interfacial systems using the LIPS‐SW method. The results of these simulations show that the LIPS‐SW method gives higher accuracy than the conventional interaction potential function of the LIPS method. The accuracy of simulating water–vapor interfacial systems was greatly improved, while that of bulk water systems was maintained using the LIPS‐SW method. We conclude that the LIPS‐SW method shows great potential for high‐accuracy, high‐performance computing to allow large scale MD simulations. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The READY program: Building a global potential energy surface and reactive dynamic simulations for the hydrogen combustion

READY (REActive DYnamics) is a program for studying reactive dynamic systems using a global potential energy surface (PES) built from previously existing PESs corresponding to each of the most important elementary reactions present in the system. We present an application to the combustion dynamics of a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen using accurate PESs for all the systems involving up to four oxygen and hydrogen atoms. Results at the temperature of 4000 K and pressure of 2 atm are presented and compared with model based on rate constants. Drawbacks and advantages of this approach are discussed and future directions of research are pointed out. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

甘油酯化降酸反应过程研究

研究了酸化油甘油酯化反应降低酸值的反应过程,考察了温度、甘油与酸化油中游离脂肪酸物质的量比和单甘酯含量对反应的影响,发现甘油单甘酯能明显促进酯化反应的进行。对二元体系甘油三酯-甘油、油酸-甘油和单甘酯-甘油的液-液相平衡以及甘油-单甘酯-油酸三元体系液-液相平衡的分析结果表明,甘油单甘酯的存在能够显著提高甘油与脂肪酸的相互溶解。这较好地解释了甘油单甘酯在酸化油酯化反应中的促进作用。     

Imidazolidinium ferrate complexes: Synthesis and catalytic properties

The new well-defined and air stable anionic iron complexes bearing an imidazolidinium ligand (2a–d) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Starting from FeBr₂, [imidazolidinium][FeBr₄] complexes 2a and 2b were prepared. The reaction of imidazolidinium chlorides with Fe(OAc)₂, followed by a recrystallization in the air led to bis(imidazolidinium) μ-oxido-bis[trichloroferrate(III)] complexes 2c and 2d. The catalytic activity of these novel complexes has been evaluated in the cross-coupling reactions of alkyl halides with Grignard reagents.