Parahydrogen-Induced Polarization in Hydrogenation Reactions Mediated by a Metal-Free Catalyst.

We report nuclear spin hyperpolarization of various alkenes achieved in alkyne hydrogenations with parahydrogen over a metal-free hydroborane catalyst (HCAT). Being an intramolecular frustrated Lewis pair aminoborane, HCAT utilizes a non-pairwise mechanism of H2 transfer to alkynes that normally prevents parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP) from being observed. Nevertheless, the specific spin dynamics in catalytic intermediates leads to the hyperpolarization of predominantly one hydrogen in alkene. PHIP enabled the detection of important HCAT-alkyne-H2 intermediates through substantial 1 H, 11 B and 15 N signal enhancement and allowed advanced characterization of the catalytic process.

Hyperpolarization Effects in Parahydrogen Activation with Pnictogen Biradicaloids: Metal-free PHIP and SABRE.

Biradicaloids attract attention as a novel class of reagents that can activate small molecules such as H2 , ethylene and CO2 . Herein, we study activation of parahydrogen (nuclear spin-0 isomer of H2 ) by a number of 4- and 5-membered pnictogen biradicaloids based on hetero-cyclobutanediyl [X(µ-NTer)2 Z] and hetero-cyclopentanediyl [X(µ-NTer)2 ZC(NDmp)] moieties (X,Z=P,As; Ter=2,6-Mes2 -C6 H3 , Dmp=2,6-Me2 -C6 H3 ). The concerted mechanism of this reaction allowed observing strong nuclear spin hyperpolarization effects in 1 H and 31 P NMR experiments. Signal enhancements from two to four orders of magnitude were detected at 9.4 T depending on the structure. It is demonstrated that 4-membered biradicaloids activate H2 reversibly, leading to SABRE (signal amplification by reversible exchange) hyperpolarization of biradicaloids themselves and their H2 adducts. In contrast, the 5-membered counterparts demonstrate rather irreversible parahydrogen activation resulting in hyperpolarized H2 adducts only. Kinetic measurements provided parameters to support experimental observations.

Design, Synthesis and Antibacterial Activity of Coumarin-1,2,3-triazole Hybrids Obtained from Natural Furocoumarin Peucedanin.

Synthesis of 1,2,3-triazole-substituted coumarins and also 1,2,3-triazolyl or 1,2,3-triazolylalk-1-inyl-linked coumarin-2,3-furocoumarin hybrids was performed by employing the cross-coupling and copper catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction approaches. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillius subtilis, Actinomyces viscosus and Escherichia coli bacterial strains. Coumarin-benzoic acid hybrids 4с, 42с and 3-((4-acetylamino-3-(methoxycarbonyl)phenyl)ethynyl)coumarin (29) showed promising activity against S. aureus strains, and the 1,2,3-triazolyloct-1-inyl linked coumarin-2,3-furocoumarin hybrid 37c was endowed with high selectivity against B. subtilis and E. coli species. The in vitro antibacterial activity of 4с, 29, 37c and 42с can potentially be compared with that of a number of modern antibiotic drugs used in the clinic, suggesting promising prospects for further research. A detailed study of the molecular interactions with the targeted protein MurB was performed using docking simulations and the obtained results are quite promising.

Parahydrogen-induced polarization study of imine hydrogenations mediated by a metal-free catalyst.

Parahydrogen-induced polarization is a nuclear spin hyperpolarization technique that can provide strongly enhanced NMR signals for catalytic hydrogenation reaction products and intermediates. Among other matters, this can be employed to study the mechanisms of the corresponding chemical transformations. Commonly, noble metal complexes are used for reactions with parahydrogen. Herein, we present a PHIP study of metal-free imine hydrogenations catalyzed by the ansa-aminoborane catalyst QCAT. We discuss the reaction mechanism by showing the pairwise nature of the initial hydrogen activation step that leads to the formation of the negative net nuclear spin polarization of N-H hydrogen in the QCAT-H2 intermediate, enabling the further transfer of parahydrogen-originating protons to the imine substrate with the accumulation of hyperpolarized amine products. Parahydrogen-induced polarization also demonstrates the reversibility of the catalytic cycle.