5-(Trifluorovinyl)dibenzothiophenium Triflate: Introducing the 1,1,2-Trifluoroethylene Tether in Drug-Like Structures.

This manuscript reports the synthesis and structure of an unprecedented sulfonium salt, 5-(trifluorovinyl)dibenzothiophenium triflate, and its use as a versatile reagent for the introduction of the bioisosteric 1,1,2-trifluoroethylene linker in drug-like structures. The protocol developed consists of the reaction of this compound with alcohols and phenols to deliver a complete set of 1,2,2-trifluoro-2-(alkoxy-/aryloxy)ethyl sulfonium salts, which have been purified by column chromatography and fully characterized. Subsequent single electron reduction under mild photochemical conditions efficiently affords the corresponding fluoroalkyl radicals that are trapped either intra- or intermolecularly through their reaction with (hetero)arenes. Theoretical calculations are used to evaluate the conformational consequences derived from the presence of the CF2 -CHF tether.

Two-Fold C-H/C-H Cross-Coupling Using RhCl3·3H2O as the Catalyst: Direct Fusion of N-(Hetero)arylimidazolium Salts and (Hetero)arenes.

[Cp*RhCl2]2 is the most prevailing catalyst employed for rhodium-catalyzed chelation-assisted C-H/C-H cross-coupling reactions due to the special ligand effect of Cp*. In this article, a novel concept of using a simple inorganic rhodium salt, RhCl3·3H2O, as the catalyst by taking advantage of in situ π-coordination to Rh with a (hetero)aromatic reaction component to stabilize Rh intermediates is proposed and evaluated. Our studies not only prove the feasibility of this concept but also disclose a novel 2-fold C-H/C-H cross-coupling reaction of N-(hetero)arylimidazolium salts with various (hetero)arenes to access water-soluble, fluorescent, cationic, and planar polycyclic heteroaromatic molecules, in which RhCl3·3H2O outperforms [Cp*RhCl2]2. Mechanistic experiments and DFT calculations reveal that this successive quadruple C-H activation reaction consists of two different C-H activation modes, i.e., concerted metalation-deprotonation (CMD) and oxidative addition. Notably, this is the first report of a C-H bond activation via oxidative addition to RhI in a bi(hetero)aryl formation with hydrogen evolution. Finally, the different ligand electrochemical parameters of neutral (hetero)arenes and anionic Cp* are used to explain the different catalytic behaviors of RhCl3·3H2O and [Cp*RhCl2]2.

Room-Temperature Coupling/Decarboxylation Reaction of α-Oxocarboxylates with α-Bromoketones: Solvent-Controlled Regioselectivity for 1,2- and 1,3-Diketones.

A transition-metal-free and room-temperature coupling/decarboxylation reaction between α-oxocarboxylates and α-bromoketones is reported herein. It represents the first mild and regioselective synthesis of either 1,2- or 1,3-diketones from the same starting materials. Notably, the regioselectivity is simply controlled by solvents. The preliminary experimental data and DFT calculations suggest sequential Darzens-type coupling, alkaline hydrolysis, KOH-promoted oxirane opening and decarboxylation in one pot. This method is efficient for the synthesis of α,ß-epoxy-γ-butyrolactone and curcuminoids.

Rh/Cu-Catalyzed Cascade [4+2] Vinylic C-H O-Annulation and Ring Contraction of α-Aryl Enones with Alkynes in Air.

An unprecedented Rh-catalyzed ketone-directed vinylic C-H activation/[4+2] O-annulation of α-aryl enones with internal alkynes followed by a Cu-catalyzed ring contraction in air to provide multiaryl-substituted furan derivatives has been developed. The preliminary mechanism study identifies the active pyrylium salt as the key intermediate.

Synthesis of a Double-Helical Naphthotetraindole Core via an Intramolecular Dehydrogenative Homocoupling Reaction.

A novel naphthotetraindole (NTI) core was synthesized in two steps via the McMurry reaction and a [Cu]/[Ag]-promoted intramolecular dehydrogenative homocoupling reaction. NTI shows a unique X-shaped double-helical structure as determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The hole-transport mobility of the bare NTI core was measured to be 2.3 × 10-5 cm2 V-1 s-1, which is comparable with the commonly used Spiro-OMeTAD.

Tandem Rh-Catalyzed [4 + 2] Vinylic C-H O-Annulation of Exocyclic Enones with Alkynes and 1,5-H Shift.

Active pyrylium intermediates are in situ generated by a Rh-catalyzed vinylic C-H annulation reaction between exocyclic α,ß-enones and alkynes, which undergo a base-promoted rearrangement via 1,5-H shift to form 1H-benzo[f]chromene derivatives.

Cascade C-H Annulation of Aldoximes with Alkynes Using O2 as the Sole Oxidant: One-Pot Access to Multisubstituted Protoberberine Skeletons.

A cascade double C-H annulation of aldoximes with alkynes to produce benz[a]acridizinium salts is developed by using a simple catalytic system of [Cp*Rh(OAc)2]2 in the presence of Zn(OTf)2 with oxygen as the sole oxidant. In addition, the challenging C-H annulation of aldoximes with alkynes, especially arylalkynes, to synthesize 1H-isoquinolines is also achieved under slightly modified conditions. This protocol provides an efficient one-pot access to multisubstituted dehydroberberinium skeletons from simple starting materials, which can be easily transformed into berberinium and tetrahydroberberine skeletons by controlled hydrogenation.

Novel Ruthenium Sensitizers with a Phenothiazine Conjugated Bipyridyl Ligand for High-Efficiency Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

Two efficient ruthenium sensitizers with a phenothiazine-modified bipyridine as an ancillary ligand, coded SCZ-1 and SCZ-2, have been developed as dyes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Both sensitizers exhibit low-energy metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) bands centered at 539 nm with high molar extinction coefficients of 1.77 × 10(4) M(-1) cm(-1) for SCZ-1 and 1.66 × 10(4) M(-1) cm(-1) for SCZ-2, which are significantly higher than the corresponding value for the reference N719 (1.27 × 10(4) M(-1) cm(-1)), indicating that the light-harvesting capacity of ruthenium sensitizers can be reinforced by introducing phenothiazine moieties into the bipyridine ligand. Under AM 1.5G irradiation (100 mW cm(-2)), SCZ-1 and SCZ-2 sensitized DSSC devices show impressive power conversion efficiencies (PCE) up to 10.4% by using of iodide-based electrolytes, which exceeds that of N719 (9.9%) under the same conditions. Both of the open circuit voltage (VOC) and fill factor (FF) of SCZ-sensitized solar cells approximate to those of N719-sensitized cell. The relatively higher efficiencies of the SCZ-sensitized cells than that of N719-sensitized cell come from their higher short-circuit photocurrent density (JSC), which may be mainly attributed to the high absorption coefficient. The absorption spectrum and device efficiency of SCZ-1 are both quite close to those of SCZ-2, suggesting that the difference in alkyl chains on the N atom of phenothiazine is not a decisive factor in affecting the photovoltaic performance of dyes.

Versatile palladium-catalyzed C-H olefination of (hetero)arenes at room temperature.

The room-temperature oxidative C-H/C-H cross-couplings between (hetero)arenes and alkenes, coumarins or quinones have been reported by using a highly electrophilic palladium species [Pd(TFA)2], generated in situ from Pd(OAc)2 and TFA, as the catalyst and cheap (NH4)2S2O8 as the oxidant under air.