Chemically Recyclable Polymer System Based on Nucleophilic Aromatic Ring-Opening Polymerization.

The development of chemically recyclable polymers with desirable properties is a long-standing but challenging goal in polymer science. Central to this challenge is the need for reversible chemical reactions that can equilibrate at rapid rates and provide efficient polymerization and depolymerization cycles. Based on the dynamic chemistry of nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr), we report a chemically recyclable polythioether system derived from readily accessible benzothiocane (BT) monomers. This system represents the first example of a well-defined monomer platform capable of chain-growth ring-opening polymerization through an SNAr manifold. The polymerizations reach completion in minutes, and the pendant functionalities are easily customized to tune material properties or render the polymers amenable to further functionalization. The resulting polythioether materials exhibit comparable performance to commercial thermoplastics and can be depolymerized to the original monomers in high yields.

Modulating Polymerization Thermodynamics of Thiolactones Through Substituent and Heteroatom Incorporation.

A central challenge in the development of next-generation sustainable materials is to design polymers that can easily revert back to their monomeric starting material through chemical recycling to monomer (CRM). An emerging monomer class that displays efficient CRM are thiolactones, which exhibit rapid rates of polymerization and depolymerization. This report details the polymerization thermodynamics for a series of thiolactone monomers through systematic changes to substitution patterns and sulfur heteroatom incorporation. Additionally, computational studies highlight the importance of conformation in modulating the enthalpy of polymerization, leading to monomers that display high conversions to polymer at near-ambient temperatures, while maintaining low ceiling temperatures (Tc). Specifically, the combination of a highly negative enthalpy (-19.3 kJ/mol) and entropy (-58.4 J/(mol·K)) of polymerization allows for a monomer whose equilibrium polymerization conversion is very sensitive to temperature.

Modulating Twisted Amide Geometry and Reactivity Through Remote Substituent Effects.

The unusual reactivity of twisted amides has long been associated with the degree of amide distortion, though classical bridged bicyclic amides offer limited methods to further modify these parameters. Here, we report that the geometry and reactivity of a single twisted amide scaffold can be significantly modulated through remote substituent effects. Guided by calculated ground state geometries, a library of twisted amide derivatives was efficiently prepared through a divergent synthetic strategy. Kinetic and mechanistic investigations of these amides in the alkylation/halide-rebound ring-opening reaction with alkyl halides show a strong positive correlation between the electron donating ability of the substituent and distortion of the amide bond, leading to rates of nucleophilic substitution spanning nearly 2 orders of magnitude. The rate limiting step of the cascade sequence is found to be dependent on the nature of the substituent, and additional studies highlight the role of solvent polarity and halide ion on reaction pathway and efficiency.

Biocatalysts from cyanobacterial hapalindole pathway afford antivirulent isonitriles against MRSA.

The emergence of resistance to frontline antibiotics has called for novel strategies to combat serious pathogenic infections. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA] is one such pathogen. As opposed to traditional antibiotics, bacteriostatic anti-virulent agents disarm MRSA, without exerting pressure, that cause resistance. Herein, we employed a thermophilic Thermotoga maritima tryptophan synthase (TmTrpB1) enzyme followed by an isonitrile synthase and Fe(II)-α-ketoglutarate-dependent oxygenase, in sequence as biocatalysts to produce antivirulent indole vinyl isonitriles. We report on conversion of simple derivatives of indoles to their C3-vinyl isonitriles, as the enzymes employed here demonstrated broader substrate tolerance. In toto, eight distinct L-Tryptophan derived α-amino acids (7) were converted to their bioactive vinyl isonitriles (3) by action of an isonitrile synthase (WelI1) and an Fe(II)-α-ketoglutarate-dependent oxygenase (WelI3) yielding structural variants possessing antivirulence against MRSA. These indole vinyl isonitriles at 10 µg/mL are effective as antivirulent compounds against MRSA, as evidenced through analysis of rabbit blood hemolysis assay. Based on a homology modelling exercise, of enzyme-substrate complexes, we deduced potential three dimensional alignments of active sites and glean mechanistic insights into the substrate tolerance of the Fe(II)-α-ketoglutarate-dependent oxygenase.

Halide-Rebound Polymerization of Twisted Amides.

The first living polymerization of twisted amides is reported, achieved using simple primary alkyl iodides as initiators. Polymerization occurs through a halide-rebound mechanism in which the nucleophilic twisted amide is quaternized and subsequently ring-opened by the iodide counterion. The covalent electrophilic polymerization generates polymers with living chain ends that are both isolable and stable to ambient conditions, enabling the synthesis of block polymers. This presents a new class of polymers for study that possess high glass transition temperatures and robust thermal stability.

Radical Approach to Thioester-Containing Polymers.

A new approach to radical ring-opening polymerization is presented that employs a new thionolactone monomer to generate polymers with thioester-containing backbones. The use of a thiocarbonyl acceptor overcomes longstanding reactivity problems in the field to give complete ring-opening and quantitative incorporation into a variety of acrylate polymers. The resulting copolymers readily degrade under hydrolytic conditions, in addition to cysteine-mediated degradation through transthioesterification. The strategy is compatible with reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and permits the synthesis of block polymers for the preparation of well-defined macromolecular structures.

Resonance promoted ring-opening metathesis polymerization of twisted amides.

The living ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of an unsaturated twisted amide using the third-generation Grubbs initiator is described. Unlike prior examples of ROMP monomers that rely on angular or steric strain for propagation, this system is driven by resonance destabilization of the amide that arises from geometric constraints of the bicyclic framework. Upon ring-opening, the amide can rotate and rehybridize to give a stabilized and planar conjugated system that promotes living propagation. The absence of other strain elements in the twisted amide is supported by the inability of a carbon analogue of the monomer to polymerize and computational studies that find resonance destabilization accounts for 11.3 kcal mol-1 of the overall 12.0 kcal mol-1 ring strain. The twisted amide polymerization is capable of preparing high molecular weight polymers rapidly at room temperature, and post-polymerization modification combined with 2D NMR spectroscopy confirms a regioirregular polymer microstructure.

Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of bulky anthracenyl carboxylates by using pincer nickel N-heterocyclic carbene complexes: an efficient protocol to access fluorescent anthracene derivatives.

A series of fluorescent (hetero)-aryl substituted anthracene derivatives were readily accessible from the corresponding bulky anthracen-9-yl carboxylates via Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions by using pincer nickel N-heterocyclic carbene complex even at the catalyst loading as low as 0.1 mol% in the presence of catalytic amounts of PCy3.

Mild Negishi cross-coupling reactions catalyzed by acenaphthoimidazolylidene palladium complexes at low catalyst loadings.

Considering that the strong σ-donor property of ylidenes derived from π-extended imidazolium salts is conducive to increasing the catalytic activity of the resulting palladium N-heterocyclic carbene complexes, robust acenaphthoimidazol-ylidene palladium complexes 3a-c with varying bulky substituted groups were prepared from the corresponding acenaphthoimidazolium chlorides by heating with PdCl2 and K2CO3 in neat 3-chloropyridine in satisfactory yields. Even at a catalyst loading as low as 0.25 mol %, complex 3a exhibited extremely high catalytic activity toward Negishi cross-coupling of alkylzinc reagents with a wide range of (hetero)aryl halides under mild reaction conditions within 30 min. Besides a great number of bromoarenes, various less expensive and inactive (hetero)aryl chlorides were coupled successfully with the alkyl- and arylzinc reagents, in which active functional groups (such as -NH2) were well tolerated even in one-pot dicoupling transformations without protection. In addition, in the case of coupling with secondary alkylzinc reagents, undesired ß-hydride elimination leading to isomerized linear products was efficaciously suppressed. The catalyst system also displayed superiority in the construction of heterobiaryls through the coupling of heteroarylzinc reagents and heterocylic chloroarenes which were hardly accessible from the corresponding organoboron reagents by Suzuki-coupling reactions. Therefore, the protocol described in this paper represents a mild, general, and scalable approach to access various structurally intriguing and functionalized (hetero)aryls.

Highly efficient aminocarbonylation of iodoarenes at atmospheric pressure catalyzed by a robust acenaphthoimidazolyidene allylic palladium complex.

A robust allylic palladium-NHC complex was developed and exhibited extremely high catalytic activity toward aminocarbonylation of various (hetero)aryl iodides under atmospheric carbon monoxide pressure, in which a broad range of secondary and primary amines were well tolerated. In addition, the concise synthesis of an anticancer drug tamibarotene was accomplished even in a gram scale, further highlighting the practical applicability of the protocol.

Robust acenaphthoimidazolylidene palladium complexes: highly efficient catalysts for Suzuki-Miyaura couplings with sterically hindered substrates.

Robust acenaphthoimidazolylidene palladium complexes have been demonstrated as highly efficient and general catalysts for the sterically hindered Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions in excellent yields even with low catalyst loadings under mild reaction conditions. The high catalytic activity of these complexes highlights that, besides the "flexible steric bulky" concept, σ-donor properties of the NHC ligands are also crucial to accelerate the transformations.

A pyridine-bridged bis-benzimidazolylidene pincer nickel(II) complex: synthesis and practical catalytic application towards Suzuki-Miyaura coupling with less-activated electrophiles.

A novel robust pyridine-bridged bis-benzimidazolylidene nickel pincer complex 3 accessible from inexpensive, commercially available precursors efficiently catalyzes the first practical Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions with various less-reactive electrophiles ArX (X = Br, Cl, OTs and OMs) and even tolerates electron-rich, sterically demanding and heterocyclic arenes in the presence of catalytic amounts of PPh(3).