Synlett

Aldehyde decarbonylation is a vital chemical transformation in the synthesis of natural products. Nature accomplishes this process through a family of decarbonylase enzymes, while in the laboratory, harsh transition metals and elevated temperatures are required. Herein, we report a mild aldehyde decarbonylation reaction that exhibits exclusive selectivity for ortho-aldehydes during a tandem nitrile boronic acid cross-coupling reaction. A wide substrate scope is displayed that includes regioselective removal of the ortho-aldehyde from phenyl boronic acids in the presence of meta- or para-aldehydes. A mechanistic investigation of the observed regioselectivity for ortho-aldehydes by density functional theory (DFT) calculations shows that the CO ligand extrusion is energetically more favorable for the ortho position as compared to the para position.

α-Functionalisation of cyclic imines is explored. The cyclic imine substrates are synthesised from their respective halonitrile precursors using a nucleophilic addition/cyclisation sequence. Selective monohalogenation of the cyclic imines yields α-haloimines, which serve as a platform to obtain various α-hydroxyimine derivatives. In addition, an unusual tautomerisation and oxidation sequence is observed in the attempted preparation of α-hydroxyimines.

A Pd-catalyzed carbothiolation using thioesters, with the formation of a quaternary carbon, is described. Carbothiolation using thioesters was problematic due to a direct-coupling side reaction that produced a sulfide, but this side reaction was successfully suppressed by an appropriate selection of the thioester and the reaction conditions. In the preparation of chroman or coumaran derivatives by this method, the reaction using S-phenyl 4-methoxybenzenecarbothioate Pd(PPh3)4, and Cs2CO3 at 100 °C in toluene afforded the desired products in good yields (77–92%). The carbothiolation reaction also proceeded with esters of alkanethiols in higher yields (56–93%) than those obtained from the previously reported carbothiolation using triisopropylsilyl (TIPS) thioethers (12–63%). The developed Pd-catalyzed carbothiolation is applicable in the preparation of a wide range of products, including a tetralin derivative and an indoline derivative. The Pd-catalyzed carbothiolation using thioesters was found to be comparable with a previously reported carbothiolation using TIPS thioethers in terms of the yield and substrate scope, and to be a superior alternative owing to the stability and lower cost of thioesters.

In this account article, we give an overview of our contribution to the development of stable micellar carriers obtained by self-assembly and photo-polymerization of diacetylenic amphiphiles. The stabilized micelles can be loaded with active substances and used for diagnostic and therapeutic applications, or loaded with a metal catalyst to promote some synthetic transformations in fully aqueous medium.Table of content1 Introduction2 Polydiacetylene Micelles Applied to Nanomedicine2.1 From Amphiphilic Units to Micelles2.2 In vivo Behavior of Micelles2.3 Passive Targeting of Tumors with Micelles2.4 Drug Delivery with Micelles2.5 Towards Improved Delivery of Micelles to Tumors Using Sonoporation2.6 Active Targeting with Micelles2.7 Behavior of Micelles at the Cellular Level and Potential Cytotoxicity2.8 Micelles for siRNA Transfection3 Polydiacetylene Micelles Applied to Catalysis3.1 Copper Nanoparticles in Micelles3.2 Copper Salts in Micelles4 Conclusion

Metal-free aromatic amines have been utilized recently as redox-active catalysts in various oxidative coupling reactions. In this study, we investigated a series of aromatic amines and their potential redox catalytic activity, in particular compared to our previously reported amino-Te(II) catalysts. The O2-mediated cross-dehydrogenative phenothiazination of phenols was utilized as a benchmark test reaction, as well as the O2-mediated cross-dehydrogenative coupling of indoles. We thus identified a proton sponge as an effective aromatic amine redox catalyst. It was moreover found that although the proton sponge displays clear catalytic activity, it is generally less active than previously reported phenotellurazine catalysts. The insights provided by this study should guide future research efforts for the development of innovative redox-catalyzed cross-dehydrogenative coupling reactions.

By exploiting the chemistry of bifunctional isocyanides, straightforward, rapid, and scalable Ugi-tetrazole-based multicomponent reaction heteroannulations were developed. Our synthetic approach provides a series of diverse fused tetrazolo piperazinones and 1,4-diazepanones in just one step.

In this paper for the first time, we report a simple one-step synthesis of 5-methyl-11,12-dihydro-5H-5,11-epoxybenzo[7,8]oxocino[4,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives by acid-catalyzed cyclization reaction of various 4-methyl-5-acetyl pyrimidine derivatives with salicylic aldehyde. It was shown that 2-substituted 4-methyl-5-acetylpyrimidines successfully react to form a cyclization product. At the same time, 4-methyl-5-acetylpyrimidines with a substituent in the 6th position do not enter into the cyclization reaction. This may be caused by the negative effect of substituents in the 6th position, which hinder the free rotation of the acetyl group and prevent the formation of a stable pre-reaction complex. The structures of the obtained 5-methyl-11,12-dihydro-5H-5,11-epoxybenzo[7,8]oxocino[4,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives were confirmed using 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and X-ray diffraction analysis.

Despite the appeal of organic redox systems as next-generation energy-storage media, achieving high cell voltages with electrolytes based on main-group elements typically comes at the cost of reduced long-term stabilities. In this Synpacts article, we summarize our recent finding that the introduction of phosphine oxide functionalities can unlock the ability of terthiophenes to serve as robust two-electron acceptors at extreme potentials. These investigations uncovered a fundamentally new class of multielectron redox systems, capable of expanding the cell potential range achievable with organic electrolytes without compromising stability.

Herein, we disclose a FeBr2-promoted cycloaddition of readily available 1,3-enynes and nitrosoarenes, providing a promising platform for the synthesis of privileged 4-acylquinoline scaffolds. This simple, one-pot process is characterized by high atom-economy, broad substrate-scope, and excellent functional-group tolerance. A possible reaction mechanism was proposed, involving processes such as [4+2] cycloaddition, ring opening, aromatization, and dehydroaromatization.

Psoralen-conjugated triplex-forming oligonucleotides (Ps-TFOs) have been used to induce DNA mutations or to suppress gene expression through the formation of crosslinked products with DNA in a sequence-specific manner. Psoralen can crosslink with DNA at its furan-ring and/or pyrone-ring side, yielding either a monoadduct or diadduct (interstrand crosslinking) product. The differences in the crosslinked structures of Ps-TFOs with the target DNAs are closely related to the changes in the biological outcomes induced by the Ps-TFOs. However, only a few reports have discussed the photocrosslinking properties of Ps-TFOs. The photocrosslinking properties of Ps-TFOs with structurally diverse psoralen derivatives remain elusive. Herein, we report the modular synthesis of novel methyl-substituted psoralen N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) esters. By using these esters, the effect of the methyl substituent of psoralen on the photocrosslinking of the corresponding Ps-TFOs was examined. The amount of the diadduct product was significantly reduced in the presence of methyl substituents at the C-3 and C-4 positions, while the total amount of photocrosslinking product was maintained. This work demonstrates the possibility of controlling the crosslinked product of Ps-TFOs by introducing methyl groups into psoralen: this ability to manipulate the product is an important factor in the biological applications of Ps-TFOs.