Highly Regioselective Ring Opening of Epoxides with Thiols Catalyzed by SbCl3 Under Solvent-Free Conditions

The ring-opening reaction of epoxides with thiols by SbCl ₃ supported on Kieselguhr under solvent-free conditions, afforded high yields of β-hydroxy sulfides. Nucleophilic attack of the thiols occurs regioselectively at the less hindered side of the epoxides.     

Darstellung,Kristallstruktur und Normalkoordinatenanalyse der bindungsisomeren Pentachlororhodanoosmate(IV)

Preparation, Crystal Structure and Normal Coordinate Analysis of Linkage Isomeric Pentachlororhodanoosmates(IV) By treatment of [OsCl₅I]^2? with (SCN)₂ in dichloromethane the linkage isomers [OsCl₅(NCS)]^2? and [OsCl₅(SCN)]^2? are formed which have been separated by ion exchange chromatography on diethylaminoethyl cellulose. The X-ray structure determination on single crystals of (Ph₄As)₂[OsCl₅(NCS)] (monoclinic, space group P2₁/a, a = 18.872(2), b = 11.6024(2), c = 22.786(1), β = 109.057(1)°, Z = 4) and (Ph₄As)₂[OsCl₅(SCN)] (monoclinic, space group P2₁/a, a = 19.057(2), b = 11.306(2), c = 22.612(1), β = 106.64(2)°, Z = 4) reveals the complete ordering of the complex anions. The thiocyanate group is located above one of the Cl ligands of the equatorial plane with the Os? N? C angle of 166.1° for N bonding and the Os? S? C angle of 109.9° for S bonding. The IR and Raman spectra of both linkage isomers known from literature are assigned by normal coordinate analysis based on the general valence force field using the molecular parameters of the X-ray determination. The valence force constants are f_d(OsN) = 1,81 and f_d(OsS) = 1,32 mdyn/Å. Taking into account increments of the trans influence a good adjustment between observed and calculated frequencies is achieved.     

5,6—二亚甲基双环[2.2.1]庚—2—醇及其衍生物的旋光与构型

从（－）－（１Ｓ，２Ｒ，４Ｓ）－５，６－二亚甲基双环［２．２．１］庚－２－醇（Ｉ）和（－）－（１Ｓ，２Ｓ，４Ｓ）－５，６－二亚甲基双环［２．２．１］庚－２－醇（Ⅱ）出发，合成了它们的醚类和取代苯甲酸酯类光学纯的衍生物。通过［α］Ｄ测定和构型分析，发现它们是含有３个手性碳（Ｃ１，Ｃ２和Ｃ４）的桥环化合物，其旋光性与构型的关系均符合可极化度多级圆球不对称性模型。     

Nature of the ring-closure process along the rearrangement of octa-1,3,5,7-tetraene to cycloocta-1,3,5-triene from the perspective of the electron localization function and catastrophe theory

We analyze the behavior of the energy profile of the ring‐closure process for the transformation of (3Z,5Z)‐octa‐1,3,5,7‐tetraene 5 to (1Z,3Z,5Z)‐cycloocta‐1,3,5‐triene 6 through a combination of electron localization function (ELF) and catastrophe theory (CT). From this analysis, concepts such as bond breaking/forming processes, formation/annihilation of lone pairs, and other electron pair rearrangements arise naturally through the reaction progress simply in terms of the different ways of pairing up the electrons. A relationship between the topology and the nature of the bond breaking/forming processes along this rearrangement is reported. The different domains of structural stability of the ELF occurring along the intrinsic reaction path have been identified. The reaction mechanism consists of six steps separated by fold and cusp catastrophes. The transition structure is observed in the third step, d(C1? C8) = 2.342 Å, where all bonds have topological signature of single bonds (C? C). The “new” C1? C8 single bond is not formed in transition state and respective catastrophe of the ELF field (cusp) is localized in the last step, d(C1? C8) ≈ 1.97 Å, where the two monosynaptic nonbonding basins V(C1) and V(C8) are joined into single disynaptic bonding basin V(C1,C8). The V(C1,C8) basin corresponds to classical picture of the C1? C8 bond in the Lewis formula. In cycloocta‐1,3,5‐triene 6 the single C1? C8 bond is characterized by relatively small basin population 1.72e, which is much smaller than other single bonds with 2.03 and 2.26e. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2011     

Potent Antimalarial 1,2,4‐Trioxanes through Perhydrolysis of Epoxides

Perhydrolysis of a sterically congested multifunctional epoxide was achieved in ethereal H₂O₂ with the aid of a recently developed Mo catalyst. The resulting hydroperoxide cyclized to give a 1,2,4‐trioxane, which could be readily elaborated into qinghaosu and a range of novel analogues. Some of the compounds with two such trioxane moieties showed in vitro antimalarial activity comparable to or even better than that of artesunate or chloroquine.     

Structural Diversity from the Transannular Cyclizations of Natural Germacrone and Epoxy Derivatives: A Theoretical–Experimental Study

Treatment of germacrone ( 1 ) with different electrophiles, and of its epoxy derivatives germacrone‐4,5‐epoxide ( 2 ), germacrone‐1,10‐epoxide ( 3 ) and isogermacrone‐4,5‐epoxide ( 4 ) with Brönsted/Lewis acids and Ti^III, gives rise to a great structural diversity. Thus, by using a maximum of two steps, the production of more than 40 compounds corresponding to 14 skeletons is described. Computational calculations rationalizing the structural divergence produced are also described. Finally, since some of the compounds generated are bioactive natural sesquiterpenes, the mechanisms of formation of these substances will provide new insights in their biosynthesis.     

A Hybrid Ring‐Opening Metathesis Polymerization Catalyst Based on an Engineered Variant of the β‐Barrel Protein FhuA

A β‐barrel protein hybrid catalyst was prepared by covalently anchoring a Grubbs–Hoveyda type olefin metathesis catalyst at a single accessible cysteine amino acid in the barrel interior of a variant of β‐barrel transmembrane protein ferric hydroxamate uptake protein component A (FhuA). Activity of this hybrid catalyst type was demonstrated by ring‐opening metathesis polymerization of a 7‐oxanorbornene derivative in aqueous solution.     

Batch tautomer generation with MolTPC

Besides all their conformational degrees of freedom, drug‐like molecules and natural products often also undergo tautomeric interconversions. Compared to the huge efforts made in experimental investigation of tautomerism, open and free algorithmic solutions for prototropic tautomer generation are surprisingly rare. The few freely available software packages limit their output to a subset of the possible configurational space by sometimes unwanted prior assumptions and complete neglection of ring‐chain tautomerism. Here, we describe an adjustable fully automatic tautomer enumeration approach, which is freely available and also incorporates the detection of ring‐chain variants. The algorithm is implemented in the MolTPC framework and accessible on SourceForge. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Short Synthesis of COX-2 Inhibitor Inotilone

An efficient three-step synthesis of COX-2 inhibitor inotilone from acetaldoxime is described. The structure of inotilone was elucidated via an aldol reaction between 5-methyl-3(2H)-furanone and 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde. This approach describes a convenient pathway to 5-alkyl-3-furanones through isoxazole chemistry.