Asymmetric conjugate addition of thioglycolate to a range of chalcones using tetrahydroisoquinoline (TIQ) N,N′-dioxide ligands

A series of novel TIQ based N,N′-oxide ligands were synthesised and screened for their catalytic activity in the enantioselective conjugate addition of thioglycolate to chalcones. Bulky groups on the side chain of the TIQ backbone provided the highest enantioselectivity of up to 88% with 10 mol % catalyst loading. It was also observed that these reactions proceeded optimally in the presence of dichloromethane as a solvent. Screening of various metals emphasized La(OTf)₃ as the ideal pre-catalyst for this particular reaction.     

Catalytic asymmetric carbon–carbon bond forming reactions catalyzed by tetrahydroisoquinoline (TIQ) N,N′-dioxide ligands

The use of TIQ-N,N′-dioxide ligands in asymmetric C–C bond forming reactions is described. In the Michael addition of cyclohexane-1,3-dione and malonates to β,γ-unsaturated α-ketoesters, excellent yields (up to 93%) and moderate to good enantioselectivities (70–89% ee) were obtained. The catalytic hetero-ene reaction of 2-methoxypropene with phenylglyoxal gave the ene product in excellent yield (95%) with moderate enantioselectivity (77% ee). The catalyst system performed well at temperatures ranging from 0 to 30 °C and relatively low catalyst loading (0.2–5 mol %) with dichloromethane being the preferred solvent for all reactions.     

The effects of carbon nanotubes on the electrocatalysis of hydrogen peroxide by metallo-phthalocyanines

The pre-grafted screen-printed gold electrode modified with phenyl-amino monolayer was investigated for covalent immobilization of phenyl-amine functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (PA-SWCNT) and metal tetra-amino phthalocyanine (MTAPc) using Schiff-base reactions with benzene-1,4-dicarbaldehyde (BDCA) as cross-linker. The PA-SWCNT and MTAPc modified electrodes were applied as hybrids for electrochemical sensing of H₂O₂. The step-by-step fabrication of the electrode was followed using electrochemistry, impedance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy and all these techniques confirmed the fabrication and the immobilization of PA-SWCNT, MnTAPc and CoTAPc onto gold surfaces. The apparent electron transfer constant (k_app) showed that the carbon nanotubes and metallo-phthalocyanines hybrids possess good electron transfer properties compared to the bare, pre-grafted and the MTAPc modified gold electrode surfaces without PA-SWCNT. The electrochemical sensing of hydrogen peroxide was successful with PA-SWCNT-MTAPc hybrid systems showing higher electrocatalytic currents compared to the other electrodes. The analytical parameters obtained using chronoamperometry gave good linearity at H₂O₂ concentrations ranging from 1.0 to 30.0 μmol L⁻¹. The values for the limit of detection (LoD) were found to be of the orders of 10⁻⁷ M using the 3δ for all the electrodes. The PA-SWCNT-MTAPc modified SPAuEs were much more sensitive compared to PA-MTAPc modified SPAuEs.