Automated Synthesis for the Safe Production of Organic Azides from Primary Amines.

Described herein is the development of an automated and reproducible process for the conversion of primary amines to organic azides utilizing prepacked capsules containing all the required reagents, including imidazole-1-sulfonyl azide tetrafluoroborate. Apart from manually loading the primary amine into the reaction vessel, the entire reaction and product isolation process can be achieved automatically, with no further user involvement, and delivers the desired organic azide in high purity. This practical and simple automated capsule-based method offers a convenient and safe way of generating organic azides without handling or exposure of potentially explosive reagents.

Cartridge-based Automated Synthesis - A New Tool for the Synthetic Chemist.

Despite recent advances in reaction methodologies, organic synthesis remains complex and challenging. Many of the fundamental processes in use have not changed in over 100 years, with a large proportion of the work being carried out manually, using lengthy procedures and difficult or hazardous reaction conditions. As such, organic synthesis still presents a bottle-neck in discovery research. Endeavours to automate synthesis in discovery, through robotic platforms, have so far not been widely successful because the highly complex nature of such machines, and the level of skill required for their operation, presents a barrier too great for most discov- ery chemists. Synple Chem has developed a safe, easy to use, efficiency-enhancing automated technology for the acceleration of discovery research. The automated flow-batch hybrid system utilises a range of innovative pre-packed reagent cartridges for different reaction classes, along with pre-programmed, highly optimised but editable reaction protocols. The combination of these three key elements, provides users with a convenient, easy to use, time-saving technology that makes the synthesis of molecules far simpler, faster and more efficient. The described technology offers all discovery chemists access to real synthesis automation without any of the barriers that have previously restricted its utility.

Kinetics and Mechanism of the Palladium-Catalyzed Oxidative Arylating Carbocyclization of Allenynes.

Pd-catalyzed C-C bond-forming reactions under oxidative conditions constitute a class of important and widely used synthetic protocols. This Article describes a mechanistic investigation of the arylating carbocyclization of allenynes using boronic acids and focuses on the correlation between reaction conditions and product selectivity. Isotope effects confirm that either allenic or propargylic C-H activation occurs directly after substrate binding. With an excess of H2O, a triene product is selectively formed via allenic C-H activation. The latter C-H activation was found to be turnover-limiting and the reaction zeroth order in reactants as well as the oxidant. A dominant feature is continuous catalyst activation, which was shown to occur even in the absence of substrate. Smaller amounts of H2O lead to mixtures of triene and vinylallene products, where the latter is formed via propargylic C-H activation. The formation of triene occurs only in the presence of ArB(OH)2. Vinylallene, on the other hand, was shown to be formed by consumption of (ArBO)3 as a first-order reactant. Conditions with sub-stoichiometric BF3·OEt2 gave selectively the vinylallene product, and the reaction is first order in PhB(OH)2. Both C-H activation and transmetalation influence the reaction rate. However, with electron-deficient ArB(OH)2, C-H activation is turnover-limiting. It was difficult to establish the order of transmetalation vs C-H activation with certainty, but the results suggest that BF3·OEt2 promotes an early transmetalation. The catalytically active species were found to be dependent on the reaction conditions, and H2O is a crucial parameter in the control of selectivity.

Palladium-Catalyzed Oxidative Cascade Carbonylative Spirolactonization of Enallenols.

A highly selective palladium-catalyzed oxidative carbonylation/carbocyclization/alkoxycarbonylation of enallenols to afford spirolactones bearing an all-carbon quaternary center was developed. This transformation involves the overall formation of three C-C bonds and one C-O bond through a cascade insertion of carbon monoxide (CO), an olefin, and CO. Preliminary experiments on chiral anion-induced enantioselective carbonylation/carbocyclization of enallenols afforded spirolactones with moderate enantioselectivity.

Enantioselective Palladium-Catalyzed Carbonylative Carbocyclization of Enallenes via Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling with Terminal Alkynes: Efficient Construction of α-Chirality of Ketones.

An enantioselective PdII /Brønsted acid-catalyzed carbonylative carbocyclization of enallenes ending with a cross-dehydrogenative coupling (CDC) with a terminal alkyne was developed. VAPOL phosphoric acid was found as the best co-catalyst among the examined 28 chiral acids, for inducing the enantioselectivity of α-chiral ketones. As a result, a number of chiral cyclopentenones were easily synthesized in good to excellent enantiomeric ratio with good yields.

Palladium-Catalyzed Oxidative Synthesis of α-Acetoxylated Enones from Alkynes.

We report a palladium-catalyzed oxidative functionalization of alkynes to generate α-acetoxylated enones in one step. A range of functional groups are well-tolerated in this reaction. Mechanistic studies, including the use of (18) O-labeled DMSO, revealed that the ketone oxygen atom in the product originates from DMSO.

Olefin-Directed Palladium-Catalyzed Regio- and Stereoselective Oxidative Arylation of Allenes.

An olefin-directed palladium-catalyzed oxidative regio- and stereoselective arylation of allenes to afford 1,3,6-trienes has been established. A number of functionalized allenes, including 2,3- and 3,4-dienoates and 3,4-dienol derivatives, have been investigated and found to undergo the olefin-directed allene arylation. The olefin moiety has been proven to be a crucial element for the arylating transformation.

Palladium(II)/Brønsted Acid-Catalyzed Enantioselective Oxidative Carbocyclization-Borylation of Enallenes.

An enantioselective oxidative carbocyclization-borylation of enallenes that is catalyzed by palladium(II) and a Brønsted acid was developed. Biphenol-type chiral phosphoric acids were superior co-catalysts for inducing the enantioselective cyclization. A number of chiral borylated carbocycles were synthesized in high enantiomeric excess.

Automated, Capsule-Based Suzuki-Miyaura Cross Couplings.

The development of an automated process for Suzuki-Miyaura cross couplings is described, in which the complete reaction, workup, and product isolation are effected automatically with no user involvement, aside from loading of the starting materials and reaction capsule. This practical and simple method was successfully demonstrated to provide the desired biaryl products using a range of aryl bromides and boronic acids and is also effective for the late-stage functionalization of aryl halides in bioactive molecules.

Scalable synthesis of oxazolones from propargylic alcohols through multistep palladium(II) catalysis: ß-selective oxidative Heck coupling of cyclic sulfonyl enamides and aryl boroxines.

A whale of a scale: The title oxidative Heck coupling proceeded with unusual ß selectivity to generate a variety of branched substituted oxazolones (see scheme; Ts=p-toluenesulfonyl). The three-step synthesis from readily available starting materials with a simple palladium catalyst and inexpensive reagents could be carried out in a single reaction vessel or scaled up for the preparation of large amounts of these amino acid precursors.

An integrated console for capsule-based, automated organic synthesis.

The current laboratory practices of organic synthesis are labor intensive, impose safety and environmental hazards, and hamper the implementation of artificial intelligence guided drug discovery. Using a combination of reagent design, hardware engineering, and a simple operating system we provide an instrument capable of executing complex organic reactions with prepacked capsules. The machine conducts coupling reactions and delivers the purified products with minimal user involvement. Two desirable reaction classes - the synthesis of saturated N-heterocycles and reductive amination - were implemented, along with multi-step sequences that provide drug-like organic molecules in a fully automated manner. We envision that this system will serve as a console for developers to provide synthetic methods as integrated, user-friendly packages for conducting organic synthesis in a safe and convenient fashion.

Asymmetric total synthesis and revision of the absolute configuration of 4-keto-clonostachydiol.

The first total synthesis of the 14-membered natural macrocyclic bislactone 4-keto-clonostachydiol, along with its enantiomer, has been accomplished in 13 steps with overall yields of 8.4% and 8.0%, respectively. The absolute configuration of 4-keto-clonostachydiol 1 has been revised as (5S,10S,13S).

Total synthesis of (-)-bitungolide F.

An efficient total synthesis of (-)-bitungolide F (6) in 17 steps and 20.1% yield is described herein. Key steps involve a Myers asymmetric alkylation to introduce the C6 methyl with proper stereochemistry, a Claisen-like cyclization to construct the alpha,beta-unsaturated delta-lactone and a Julia-Kocienski olefination to assemble the conjugated diene moiety.

Probing the behavior of bovine serum albumin upon binding to atenolol: insights from spectroscopic and molecular docking approaches.

Molecular interaction of atenolol, a selective ß1 receptor antagonist with the major carrier protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA), was investigated under imitated physiological conditions (pH 7.4) by means of fluorescence spectroscopy, UV absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and molecular modeling studies. The steady-state fluorescence spectra manifested that static type, due to formation of the atenolol-BSA complex, was the dominant mechanism for fluorescence quenching. The characteristic information about the binding interaction of atenolol with BSA in terms of binding constant (Kb) were determined by the UV-vis absorption titration, and were found to be in the order of 103 M-1 at different temperatures, indicating the existence of a weak binding in this system. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that the binding process was primarily mediated by van der Waals force and hydrogen bonds due to the negative sign for enthalpy change (ΔH0), entropy change (ΔS0). The molecular docking results elucidated that atenolol preferred binding on the site II of BSA according to the findings observed in competitive binding experiments. Moreover, via alterations in synchronous fluorescence, three-dimensional fluorescence and FT-IR spectral properties, it was concluded that atenolol could arouse slight configurational and micro-environmental changes of BSA.

Palladium-catalyzed oxidative diarylating carbocyclization of enynes.

A mild and efficient palladium-catalyzed oxidative diarylating carbocyclization of enynes is described. The reaction tolerates a range of functionalized arylboronic acids to give diarylated products in good yields. Control experiments suggest that the reaction starts with an arylpalladation of the alkyne, followed by carbocyclization, transmetalation, and reductive elimination to afford the diarylated product.

Palladium-catalyzed oxidative carbocyclization/arylation of enallenes.

A stereoselective palladium-catalyzed oxidative carbocyclization/arylation of enallenes is described. The reaction shows wide tolerance toward highly functionalized arylboronic acids and results in a cis addition of two carbon moieties to an olefin in good to excellent yields.

An efficient method for construction of the angularly fused 6,3,5-tricyclic skeleton of mycorrhizin A and its analogues.

The angularly fused 6,3,5-tricyclic system is readily generated via a cascade cyclization under acid promotion. The reaction proceeds at room temperature with high stereochemical fidelity from the electrophilic center of the epoxide to the cyclopropane product. This methodology provides a potentially useful approach for the synthesis of mycorrhizin A and its analogues.

A novel Prins cyclization through benzylic/allylic C-H activation.

A step-economic method to construct the tetrahydropyran ring, involving sequential benzylic/allylic C-H bond activation via DDQ oxidation and nucleophilic attack of an unactivated olefin, is described. The equatorial-trisubstituted Prins products are obtained from benzyl and allyl homoallylic ethers with high yield and stereochemical fidelity.

Efficient asymmetric total syntheses of cryptocarya triacetate, cryptocaryolone, and cryptocaryolone diacetate.

Concise and efficient asymmetric total syntheses of three substituted alpha-pyrone-type natural products have been accomplished via 7-9 steps from 5b in high overall yields, which involve linchpin coupling, ring-closing metathesis, and a tandem sequence of deacetylation and intramolecular oxa-Michael addition as the key steps.