Synthetic Studies on Spirolides A and B: Formation of the Upper Carbon Framework Based on a Lewis Acid Template-Catalyzed Diels–Alder Reaction

The upper fragment of spirolides A and B, which are marine phycotoxins that exhibit strong antagonistic activities on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, was constructed. The functionalized cyclohexene in spirolides was stereoselectively synthesized from the bicyclic lactone, which could be readily accessed by the Lewis acid template-catalyzed asymmetric Diels–Alder reaction of the pentadienol and methyl acrylate.     

Catalyst-Free Arylation of Tertiary Phosphines with Diaryliodonium Salts Enabled by Visible Light

The visible-light-induced arylation of tertiary phosphines with aryl(mesityl)iodonium triflates to produce the quaternary phosphonium salts occurs under mild, metal, and catalyst-free conditions. Photo-excited EDA complexes between diaryliodonium salts and phosphines supposedly enable this transformation, which is difficult to achieve through the traditional ground-state reactions. Demonstrating high functional group tolerance, broad scope, and complete selectivity of the aryl group transfer, the method is particularly compatible with sterically congested phosphines, which are challenging under metal-based catalytic methods.     

Retracted: Light-Induced Bistability in Iron(III) Spin-Transition Compounds of 5 X-Salicylaldehyde Thiosemicarbazone (X=H,Cl, Br)

The iron(III) spin-crossover compounds [Fe(Hthsa)(thsa)] ⋅ H₂O ( 1 ), [Fe(Hth5Clsa)(th5Clsa)₂] ⋅ H₂O ( 2 ), and [Fe(Hth5Brsa)(th5Brsa)₂] ⋅ H₂O ( 3 ) (H₂thsa=salicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone, H₂th5Clsa=5-chlorosalicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone, and H₂th5Brsa=5-bromosalicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone) have been synthesized and their spin-transition properties investigated by magnetic susceptibility, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry measurements. The three compounds exhibit an abrupt spin transition with a thermal hysteresis effect. The more polarizable the substituent on the salicylaldehyde moiety, the more complete is the transition at room temperature with an increased degree of cooperativity. The molecular structures of 1 and 2 in the high-spin state are revealed. The occurrence of the light-induced excited-spin-state trapping phenomenon appears to be dependent on the substituent incorporated into the 5-position of the salicylaldehyde subunit. Whereas the compounds with an electron-withdrawing group (-Br or -Cl) exhibit light-induced trapped excited high-spin states with great longevity of metastability, the halogen-free compound does not, even though strong intermolecular interactions (such as hydrogen-bonding networks and π stacking) operate in the system. For compound 2 , the surface level of photoconversion is less than 35 %. In contrast, compound 3 displays full photoexcitation.     

Synergistic Activities in the Ullmann Coupling of Chloroarenes at Ambient Temperature by Pd‐Supported Calcined Ferrocenated La2O3

Novel palladium‐doped nanoparticles have been explored to serve as the first metal oxide‐derived heterogeneous catalyst for Ullmann reaction of chloroarenes under mild condition (34 °C). This heterogeneous catalyst exhibited high catalytic activity towards the Ullmann homocoupling of chloroarenes into a series of useful symmetrically biaryl products with good to excellent yields in the presence of ethanol and NaOH, thereby leading to green and economical Ullmann reaction. The produced nanoparticles were successfully characterized by various techniques including PXRD, XPS, HRTEM, SEM‐EDS, BET, TGA techniques, elemental mapping analysis and ICP‐OES. Interestingly, based on characterization and experimental data, a reasonable mechanism has been proposed. Also, the formation of aryl methyl ketone as a by‐product has been further confirmed by isotopic labelling experiments that the acetyl moiety is derived from ethanol. Moreover, the catalyst was stable and could be easily reused up to 5 times under atmospheric air without suffering significant loss in catalytic activity.     

Observation of Slow Relaxation and Single‐Molecule Toroidal Behavior in a Family of Butterfly‐Shaped Ln4 Complexes

A family of five isostructural butterfly complexes with a tetranuclear [Ln₄] core of the general formula [Ln₄(LH)₂(μ₂‐η¹η¹Piv)(η²‐Piv)(μ₃‐OH)₂]?x H₂O?y MeOH?z CHCl₃ ( 1 : Ln=Dy^III, x=2, y=2, z=0; 2 : Ln=Tb^III, x=0, y=0, z=6; 3 : Ln=Er^III, x=2, y=2, z=0; 4 : Ln=Ho^III, x=2, y=2, z=0; 5 : Ln=Yb^III, x=2, y=2, z=0; LH₄=6‐{[bis(2‐hydroxyethyl)amino]methyl}‐N′‐(2‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxybenzylidene)picolinohydrazide; PivH=pivalic acid) was isolated and characterized both structurally and magnetically. Complexes 1 – 5 were probed by direct and alternating current (dc and ac) magnetic susceptibility measurements and, except for 1 , they did not display single‐molecule magnetism (SMM) behavior. The ac magnetic susceptibility measurements show frequency‐dependent out‐of‐phase signals with one relaxation process for complex 1 and the estimated effective energy barrier for the relaxation process was found to be 49 K. We have carried out extensive ab initio (CASSCF+RASSI‐SO+SINGLE_ANISO+POLY_ANISO) calculations on all the five complexes to gain deeper insights into the nature of magnetic anisotropy and the presence and absence of slow relaxation in these complexes. Our calculations yield three different exchange coupling for these Ln₄ complexes and all the extracted J values are found to be weakly ferro/antiferromagentic in nature (J₁=+2.35, J₂=?0.58, and J₃=?0.29 cm^?1 for 1 ; J₁=+0.45, J₂=?0.68, and J₃=?0.29 cm^?1 for 2 ; J₁=+0.03, J₂=?0.98, and J₃=?0.19 cm^?1 for 3 ; J₁=+4.15, J₂=?0.23, and J₃=?0.54 cm^?1 for 4 and J₁=+0.15, J₂=?0.28, and J₃=?1.18 cm^?1 for 5 ). Our calculations reveal the presence of very large mixed toroidal moment in complex 1 and this is essentially due to the specific exchange topology present in this cluster. Our calculations also suggest presence of single‐molecule toroics (SMTs) in complex 2 . For complexes 3 – 5 on the other hand, the transverse anisotropy was computed to be large, leading to the absence of slow relaxation of magnetization. As the magnetic field produced by SMTs decays faster than the normal spin moments, the concept of SMTs can be exploited to build qubits in which less interference and dense packing are possible. Our systematic study on these series of Ln₄ complexes suggest how the ligand design can help to bring forth such SMT characteristics in lanthanide complexes.     

The Determination Of Sub Part-Per-Billion Levels Of Volatile Organic Compounds In Air By Pre-Concentration From Small Sample Volumes

Abstract

Trace level Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in ambient air are normally determined according to EPA Method TO-14. This method describes the analysis in ambient air of 41 VOCs, ranging in boiling point from -29 to 215°C. It covers a concentration range from 0.2 to 20 parts per billion, volume/volume (ppb), and specifies sample enrichment of a 400 mL air sample on glass beads at -160°C. While this sample volume provides sub-ppb levels of VOC detection for target analytes when using a quadrupole mass spectrometer detector in SIM mode or when using GC detectors, the identification of non-target analytes may only be done in full scan mode for higher concentrations. Also with this sample volume a Nafion dryer is needed for water removal thereby lowering the recovery of polar VOCs.

Because of the very high sensitivity of the ion trap MS, relatively small air volumes (60 mL) are adequate to obtain the required or lower detection levels. An integrated air analysis system based on a GC-ion-trap MS has been investigated and is described. This system has a built-in cryogenic trap and necessary valving, internal standard gas sampling loop, and is controlled from the GC-MS workstation. The linearity, precision, and method detection levels obtainable with this system when using small volumes are reported. In addition, examples of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of ambient air samples are shown.     

2. Mitteilung: Tetraphenylarsoniumverbindungen und Pentaphenylarsen

Es wurde ein Trennverfahren ausgeabeitet, das es gestattet, die Aktivitätsausbeuten für Mono-, Di- und Triphenylarsenverbindungen, für Tetraphenylarsoniumverbindungen und für Pentaphenylarsen sowie für nicht organisch gebundenes Arsen in neutronenbestrahlten Tetraphenylarsoniumver erbindungen und in Pentaphenylarsen zu bestimmen. Als Trennmethoden werden Extraktion, Ionenaustauwsch und Al₂O₃-Chromatographic benutzt. Zur Reinigung und Ausbeutebestimmung von Di- und Triphenylarsenprodukten sowie von Tetraphenylarsonimverbindungen finden Kristallisations- bzw. Fällungsreaktionen Anwendung unter Ausnutzung des Prinzips der Isotopenverdünnungsanalyse.     

One‐Pot Synthesis of Pyrazole‐5(3)‐carboxyamides

Abstract

A convenient one‐pot synthesis of eight pyrazole‐5(3)‐carboxyamides from the reaction of the 5(3)‐trichloromethylpyrazoles with amines, in good yield, is reported. These reactions show that the trichloromethyl group is a convenient precursor to carboxyamide groups.