Application of N,N‐bis(diphenylphosphino)aniline palladium(II) complexes as pre‐catalysts in Heck coupling reactions

Palladium(II) complexes with N,N‐bis(diphenylphosphino)aniline ligands catalyse the Heck reaction between styrene and aryl bromides, affording stilbenes in good yield. The structures of two of the complexes used as pre‐catalysts have been determined by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nitrile-functionalized pyridinium ionic liquids: synthesis, characterization, and their application in carbon-carbon coupling reactions

A series of relatively low-cost ionic liquids, based on the N-butyronitrile pyridinium cation [C(3)CNpy](+), designed to improve catalyst retention, have been prepared and evaluated in Suzuki and Stille coupling reactions. Depending on the nature of the anion, these salts react with palladium chloride to form [C(3)CNpy](2)[PdCl(4)] when the anion is Cl(-) and complexes of the formula [PdCl(2)(C(3)CNpy)(2)][anion](2) when the anion is PF(6)(-), BF(4)(-), or N(SO(2)CF(3))(2)(-). The solid-state structures of [C(3)CNpy]Cl and [C(3)CNpy](2)[PdCl(4)] have been established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The catalytic activity of these palladium complexes following immobilization in both N-butylpyridinium and nitrile-functionalized ionic liquids has been evaluated in Suzuki and Stille coupling reactions. All of the palladium complexes show good catalytic activity, but recycling and reuse is considerably superior in the nitrile-functionalized ionic liquid. Inductive coupled plasma spectroscopy reveals that the presence of the coordinating nitrile moiety in the ionic liquid leads to a significant decrease in palladium leaching relative to simple N-alkylpyridinium ionic liquids. Palladium nanoparticles have been identified as the active catalyst in the Stille reaction and were characterized using transmission electron microscopy.     

Supramolecular phthalocyanine dimers based on the secondary dialkylammonium cation/dibenzo-24-crown-8 recognition motif

[formula: see text] New unsymmetrically substituted DB24C8-phthalocyanines, which are able to form complexes with suitable dialkylammonium cations, have been prepared. These complexes most probably have a pseudorotaxane geometry.     

Alcohol‐Induced C−N Bond Cleavage of Cyclometalated N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Ligands with a Methylene‐Linked Pendant Imidazolium Ring

Reaction of the pentamethylcyclopentadienyl rhodium iodide dimer [Cp*RhI₂]₂ with 1,1′‐diphenyl‐3,3′‐methylenediimidazolium diiodide in non‐alcohol solvents, in the presence of base, led to the formation of bis‐carbene complex [Cp*Rh(bis‐NHC)I]I (bis‐NHC=1,1′‐diphenyl‐4,4′‐methylenediimidazoline‐5,5′‐diylidene). In contrast, when employing alcohols as the solvent in the same reaction, cleavage of a methylene C?N bond is observed, affording ether‐functionalized (cyclometalated) carbene ligands coordinated to the metal center and the concomitant formation of complexes with a coordinated imidazole ligand. Studies employing other 1,1′‐diimidazolium salts indicate that the cyclometalation step is a prerequisite for the activation/scission of the C?N bond and, based on additional experimental data, a S_N2 mechanism for the reaction is tentatively proposed.     

Simplification and analysis of a model of social interaction in voting

A recently proposed model of social interaction in voting is investigated by simplifyingit down into a version that is more analytically tractable and which allows a mathematicalanalysis to be performed. This analysis clarifies the interplay of the different elementspresent in the system – social influence, heterogeneity and noise – and leads to a betterunderstanding of its properties. The origin of a regime of bistability is identified. Theinsight gained in this way gives further intuition into the behaviour of the originalmodel.     

In vitro anticancer activity and biologically relevant metabolization of organometallic ruthenium complexes with carbohydrate-based ligands

The synthesis and in vitro anticancer activity of dihalogenido(eta6-p-cymene)(3,5,6-bicyclophosphite-alpha-D-glucofuranoside)ruthenium(II) complexes are described. The compounds were characterized by NMR spectroscopy and ESI mass spectrometry, and the molecular structures of dichlorido-, dibromido- and diiodido(eta6-p-cymene)(3,5,6-bicyclophosphite-1,2-O-isopropylidene-alpha-D-glucofuranoside)ruthenium(II) were determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. The complexes were shown to undergo aquation of the first halido ligand in aqueous solution, followed by hydrolysis of a P--O bond of the phosphite ligand, and finally formation of dinuclear species. The hydrolysis mechanism was confirmed by DFT calculations. The aquation of the complexes was markedly suppressed in 100 mM NaCl solution, and notably only very slow hydrolysis of the P--O bond was observed. The complexes showed affinity towards albumin and transferrin and monoadduct formation with 9-ethylguanine. In vitro studies revealed that the 3,5,6-bicyclophosphite-1,2-O-cyclohexylidene-alpha-D-glucofuranoside complex is the most cytotoxic compound in human cancer cell lines (IC50 values from 30 to 300 microM depending on the cell line).     

Ionic solid-state dimers and polymers derived from imidazolium dicarboxylic acids

A series of imidazolium dicarboxylic acids have been prepared from the reaction of the 1,3‐bis(carboxymethyl)imidazolium zwitterion with the Brønsted acids HX (X=F, Br, Cl, ClO₄). The structures of these acids have been established in the solid state by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, which revealed that the cations and anions form strong hydrogen bonds through O? H???X interactions, leading to the formation of dimeric and polymeric networks. These acids react with elemental zinc and cobalt to form stable polymeric coordination complexes, some of which have also been characterised by X‐ray diffraction.