Novel metathesis catalysts based on ruthenium 1,3-dimesityl-3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidin-2-ylidenes: synthesis, structure, immobilization, and catalytic activity

The synthesis of novel ruthenium-based metathesis catalysts containing the saturated 1,3-bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidin-2-ylidene ligand, that is, [RuCl2(NHC)[=CH-2-(2-PrO)-5-NO(2)-C6H3]] (1) and [Ru(CF3COO)2(NHC)[=CH-2-(2-PrO)-5-NO2-C6H3]] (2) (NHC=1,3-bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidin-2-ylidene) is described. Both catalysts are highly active in ring-closing metathesis (RCM) and ring-opening cross-metathesis (ROCM). Compound 1 shows moderate activity in enyne metathesis. Compound 2 is not applicable to enyne metathesis since it shows high activity in the cyclopolymerization of diethyl dipropargylmalonate (DEDPM). Poly(DEDPM) prepared by the action of 2 consists of 95% five-membered rings, that is, poly(cyclopent-1-enevinylene)s, and 5 % of six-membered rings, that is, poly(cyclohex-1-ene-3-methylidene)s. The polymerization proceeds in a nonliving manner and results in polyenes with broad polydispersities (1.9< or =PDI< or =2.3). Supported analogues of 2 were prepared by immobilization on hydroxymethyl-Merrifield resin and a monolithic support derived from ring-opening-metathesis polymerization (ROMP). Catalyst loadings of 1 and 2.5%, respectively, were obtained. Both supported versions of 2 showed excellent reactivity. With 0.24-2% of the supported catalysts, yields in RCM and ROCM were in the range of 76-100%. Leaching of ruthenium was low and resulted in Ru contaminations of the products of less than 0.000014% (0.14 ppm).     

Oxidations by a H2O2-VO3 −-pyrazine-2-carboxylic acid reagent

Alkanes (cyclohexane, hexane, heptane isomers) are effectively oxidized in CH₃CN at 20–70°C by hydrogen peroxide when catalyzed by a Bu₄NVO₃-pyrazine-2-carboxylic acid system. Alkyl hydroperoxide is the main product; an alcohol and a ketone or an aldehyde are also formed. Under these conditions benzene is oxidized to give phenol, while alkyl benzenes yield oxygenation products both of the ring and the side chain. It has been assumed that the interaction of H₂O₂ with VO₃ ^– gives rise to generation of HO radicals and other radical-like vanadium containing species that abstract a hydrogen atom from an alkane, RH. The radical R^. formed reacts with O₂ to produce ROO^. which is then transformed to alkyl hydroperoxide.Presented at the VIII International Symposium on Homogeneous Catalysis (Amsterdam, 1992).Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 64–68, January, 1993.     

On the Randić Index of Acyclic Conjugated Molecules

The Randić index of an organic molecule whose molecular graph is G is the sum of the weights (d(u)d(v))^−1/2 of all edges uv of G, where d(u) and d(v) are the degrees of the vertices u and v in G. We give a sharp lower bound on the Randić index of conjugated trees (trees with a perfect matching) in terms of the number of vertices. A sharp lower bound on the Randić index of trees with a given size of matching is also given Mei Lu: Partially supported by NNSFC (No. 60172005) Lian-zhu Zhang: Partially supported by NNSFC (No. 10271105) Feng Tian: Partially supported by NNSFC (No. 10431020)     

Fast folding and comparison of RNA secondary structures

Summary Computer codes for computation and comparison of RNA secondary structures, the Vienna RNA package, are presented, that are based on dynamic programming algorithms and aim at predictions of structures with minimum free energies as well as at computations of the equilibrium partition functions and base pairing probabilities.An efficient heuristic for the inverse folding problem of RNA is introduced. In addition we present compact and efficient programs for the comparison of RNA secondary structures based on tree editing and alignment.All computer codes are written in ANSI C. They include implementations of modified algorithms on parallel computers with distributed memory. Performance analysis carried out on an Intel Hypercube shows that parallel computing becomes gradually more and more efficient the longer the sequences are.

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Schnelle Faltung und Vergleich von Sekundärstrukturen von RNA

Zusammenfassung Die im Vienna RNA package enthaltenen Computer Programme für die Berechnung und den Vergleich von RNA Sekundärstrukturen werden präsentiert. Ihren Kern bilden Algorithmen zur Vorhersage von Strukturen minimaler Energie sowie zur Berechnung von Zustandssumme und Basenpaarungswahrscheinlichkeiten mittels dynamischer Programmierung.Ein effizienter heuristischer Algorithmus für das inverse Faltungsproblem wird vorgestellt. Darüberhinaus präsentieren wir kompakte und effiziente Programme zum Vergleich von RNA Sekundärstrukturen durch Baum-Editierung und Alignierung.Alle Programme sind in ANSI C geschrieben, darunter auch eine Implementation des Faltungs-algorithmus für Parallelrechner mit verteiltem Speicher. Wie Tests auf einem Intel Hypercube zeigen, wird das Parallelrechnen umso effizienter je länger die Sequenzen sind.

     

羧酸铜催化反应的研究——Ⅰ.羧酸铜催化醛肟转变为睛

本文报道了在多种羧酸铜催化下,醛肟在含有氰基的溶剂中(如CH_3CN、CH_3OCH_2CH_2CN等),均可脱水转变成相应的腈。反应条件温和,产率较高。具有不同空间和电性效应取代基的羧酸铜对反应的产率影响不大。实验中还发现溶剂乙腈参与了上述反应。     

Palladium-catalyzed electrophilic allylation reactions via bis(allyl)palladium complexes and related intermediates

The synthetic scope of the allyl-palladium chemistry can be extended to involve electrophilic reagents. The greatest challenge in these reactions is the catalytic generation of an allyl-palladium intermediate incorporating a nucleophilic allyl moiety. A vast majority of the published reactions that involve palladium-catalyzed allylation of electrophiles proceed via bis(allyl)palladium intermediates. The eta(1)-moiety of the bis(allyl)palladium intermediates reacts with electrophiles, including aldehydes, imines, or Michael acceptors. Recently, catalytic electrophilic allylations via mono-allylpalladium complexes were also presented by employment of so-called "pincer complex" catalysts.     

Supramolecular approaches to generate libraries of chelating bidentate ligands for homogeneous catalysis

The process of catalyst discovery and development relying on combinatorial methods has suffered so far from the difficult access to structurally diverse and large libraries of ligands, in particular the structurally more complex class of bidentate ligands. A completely new approach to streamline the difficult ligand synthesis process is to use structurally less complex monodentate ligands that self-assemble in the coordination sphere of a metal center through noncovalent attractive ligand-ligand interactions to generate bidentate, chelating ligands. When complementary attractive ligand-ligand interactions are employed, it is even possible to generate libraries of defined chelate-ligand catalysts by simply mixing two different monomeric ligands. This Minireview summarizes the first approaches and results in this new field of combinatorial homogeneous catalysis.     

Syntheses of seven-membered rings: ruthenium-catalyzed intramolecular [5+2] cycloadditions

The Ru-catalyzed intramolecular [5+2] cycloaddition of cyclopropylenynes is investigated with respect to the regio- and diastereoselectivity as well as the functional group compatibility of the reaction. Evidence for the mechanism as occurring through a ruthenacyclopentene intermediate is elucidated from 1) the study of the diastereoselectivity of the cycloaddition; 2) the effect of variation of substituents on the regioselectivity of cyclopropyl bond cleavage in 1,2-trans- and 1,2-cis-disubstituted cyclopropanes and 3) examples that clearly do not involve ruthenacyclohexene as intermediates as products still incorporate the cyclopropyl moiety. The scope and limitations of the Ru-catalyzed cycloaddition are discussed and compared with the Rh-catalyzed reaction. The potential power of this methodology towards natural product total synthesis is demonstrated by the formation of several polycyclic systems with the chosen reaction conditions and readily available cyclopropylenyne substrates.     

Recent Progress in Direct Partial Oxidation of Methane to Methanol

The direct conversion of methane to methanol has attracted a great deal of attention for nearly a century since it was first found possible in 1902, and it is still a challenging task. This review article describes recent advancements in the direct partial oxidation of methane to methanol. The history of direct oxidation of methane and the difficulties encountered in the partial oxidation of methane to methanol are briefly summarized. Recently reported developments in gas-phase homogeneous oxidation, heterogeneous catalytic oxidation and liquid phase homogeneous catalytic oxidation of methane axe reviewed.