Investigation of Strain-Promoted Azide-Alkyne Cycloadditions in Aqueous Solutions by Capillary Electrophoresis.

The Cu-free 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of cyclooctynes and azides is an up-and-coming method in bioorganic chemistry and other disciplines. However, broad application is still hampered by major drawbacks such as poor solubility of the reactants in aqueous media and low reaction rates. It is thus of high demand to devise a fast and user-friendly strategy for the optimization of reaction conditions and reagent design. We describe a capillary electrophoresis (CE) study of reaction kinetics in strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloadditions (SPAAC) using substrates with acidic or basic functionalities. This study reveals that the pH value has a significant effect on reaction rates as a result of changes in the reactants' charge state via protonation or deprotonation, and the concomitant changes of electronic properties. This novel experimental setup also enables the study of even more challenging conditions such as reactions in micelles and we did indeed observe much faster SPAAC reactions in the presence of surfactants. Careful combination of the above-mentioned parameters resulted in the identification of conditions enabling remarkable rate enhancement by a factor of 80. This electrophoretic method may thus serve as a versatile, fast and reliable tool for screening purposes in all research areas applying SPAAC reactions.

From stereodynamics to high-throughput screening of catalysed reactions.

Characterising chemical reactions by kinetic analysis is of fundamental importance to experimentally obtain insights into reaction mechanisms. Based on such investigations reactions can be optimised and improved catalysts designed. Enhanced reaction conditions may drastically increase the performance of the reaction in terms of yield and (enantio-) selectivity. Understanding reaction kinetics in more complex systems involving adaptive chemical and dynamic systems on a molecular level as shown here is even more challenging. Here we review recent developments in monitoring reactions including the dynamic interconversion of stereoisomers by integrating (catalysed) reactions and chemical analysis in on-column reaction chromatographic devices. These recent developments allow rapid screening of reactions in great detail and are a central tool in determining reaction pathways and to understand how to control the stereodynamics of chiral molecules.

Comparison of a molecular and an immobilized gadolinium(III)-tris[(1R,4S)-3-heptafluorobutanoyl-camphor] as catalyst in the asymmetric Danishefsky-hetero-Diels-Alder-reaction.

On-column reaction gas chromatography combines the power of separation and rapid analysis of reactants and reaction products with screening of reactions in a single step. Not only conversions but the reaction rates at various temperatures can be obtained from single measurements, making this approach superior to the time-consuming measurements typically performed in reaction progress analysis. However, this approach has only been used in the investigation of interconversion processes, rearrangement reactions, and only a few examples of higher-order reactions are known. Here we present the screening of immobilized gadolinium(III)-tris[(1R,4S)-3-heptafluorobutanoyl-camphor] in the Danishefsky-hetero-Diels-Alder-reaction by enantioselective on-column reaction gas chromatography utilizing cryogenic focusing to achieve catalytic conversions in this higher-order reaction and subsequent separation of the enantiomeric product mixture to determine the enantiomeric ratio. The results obtained by this approach could be transferred to the conventional batch reaction at a larger scale, demonstrating that on-column reaction chromatography provides reliable results in the screening of enantioselective reactions.

Integrating reaction and analysis: investigation of higher-order reactions by cryogenic trapping.

A new approach for the investigation of a higher-order reaction by on-column reaction gas chromatography is presented. The reaction and the analytical separation are combined in a single experiment to investigate the Diels-Alder reaction of benzenediazonium-2-carboxylate as a benzyne precursor with various anthracene derivatives, i.e. anthracene, 9-bromoanthracene, 9-anthracenecarboxaldehyde and 9-anthracenemethanol. To overcome limitations of short reaction contact times at elevated temperatures a novel experimental setup was developed involving a cooling trap to achieve focusing and mixing of the reactants at a defined spot in a fused-silica capillary. This trap functions as a reactor within the separation column in the oven of a gas chromatograph. The reactants are sequentially injected to avoid undefined mixing in the injection port. An experimental protocol was developed with optimized injection intervals and cooling times to achieve sufficient conversions at short reaction times. Reaction products were rapidly identified by mass spectrometric detection. This new approach represents a practical procedure to investigate higher-order reactions at an analytical level and it simultaneously provides valuable information for the optimization of the reaction conditions.

Investigation of novel immobilized 3-(perfluoroalkanoyl)-(1R)-camphorate nickel complexes in enantioselective complexation gas chromatography.

Novel 3-(perfluoroalkanoyl)-(1R)-camphorate nickel complexes immobilized to poly(dimethylsiloxane) phases are presented. Immobilized 3-(perfluoroalkanoyl)-(1R)-camphorate nickel complexes with a trifluoromethyl (CF(3); nickel(II)-bis[(1R,4S)-3-trifluoromethanoyl-10-propylenoxycamphor]-polysiloxane Ni(tfpc)(2)@PS) and a heptafluoropropyl-substituent (C(3)F(7); nickel(II)-bis[(1R,4S)-3-heptafluorobutanoyl-10-propylenoxycamphor]-polysiloxane Ni(hfpc)(2)@PS) were synthesized, characterized and immobilized to polysiloxane. Ni(hfpc)(2)@PS was immobilized with a selector content of 38% and their enantioseparation ability was compared to selector concentrations of 4% and 20%. The influence of the perfluorinated moiety as well as the effect of the selector concentration on enantioseparations were investigated. Based on different functionalized organic compounds the quality of enantioseparation was analyzed and compared.