Diastereoselective Synthesis of Sulfoxide-Functionalised N-Heterocyclic Carbene Ruthenium Complexes, Experimental and Computational Study.

The synthesis of sulfoxide-functionalized NHC ligand precursors were carried out by direct and mild oxidation from corresponding thioether precursors with high selectivity. A series of cationic [Ru(II)(η6-p-cymene)(NHC-SO)Cl]+ complexes were obtained in excellent yields by the classical Ag2O transmetallation route. NMR analyses suggested a chelate structure for the metal complexes, and X-ray diffractometry studies of 4 complexes unambiguously confirmed the preference for the bidentate (κ2-C,S) coordination mode of the NHC-SO ligands. Interestingly, only one diastereomer, in the form of an enantiomeric pair, was observed both in 1H NMR and in the solid state for the complexes. DFT calculations showed a possible intrinsic energy difference between the two pairs of diastereomers. The calculated energy barriers suggested that inversion of the sulfoxide is only plausible from the higher energy diastereomer together with bulky substituents. Inverting the configuration at the Ru center instead shows a lower and accessible activation barrier to provide the most stable diastereomer through thermodynamic control, consistent with the observation of a single species by 1H NMR as a pair of enantiomers. All these complexes catalyse the ß-alkylation of secondary alcohols.

Polymerization/depolymerization of chiral metallo-supramolecular assembly induced by redox change.

We report on the polymerization/depolymerization of chiral metallo-supramolecular assembly by CuI /CuII redox change. By combining a monotopic enantiopure ligand with a ditopic ligand of opposite configuration, ML2 -type complexes are generated with chiral self-recognition or self-discrimination depending on the oxidation state of copper. In presence of CuI , the formation of heterochiral complexes is favored, thus generating dinuclear species whereas CuII advocates for the formation of homochiral species, namely, a mixture of mononuclear species and metallo-supramolecular polymeric species. Thus, cyclic voltammetry was used to study such a chirality-induced stimulus sensitive polymerization/depolymerization process.

Observation of hyperpositive non-linear effect in catalytic asymmetric organozinc additions to aldehydes.

Asymmetric amplification is a phenomenon that is believed to play a key role in the emergence of homochirality in life. In asymmetric catalysis, theoretical and experimental models have been investigated to provide an understanding of how chiral amplification is possible, in particular based on non-linear effects. Interestingly, it has been proposed a quarter century ago that chiral catalysts, when not enantiopure might even be more enantioselective than their enantiopure counterparts. We show here that such hyperpositive non-linear effect in asymmetric catalysis is indeed possible. An in-depth study into the underlying mechanism was carried out, and the scheme we derive differs from the previous proposed models.

Easy Ruthenium-Catalysed Oxidation of Primary Amines to Nitriles under Oxidant-Free Conditions.

A dehydrogenation of primary amine to give the corresponding nitrile under oxidant- and base-free conditions catalysed by simple [Ru(p-cym)Cl2 ]2 with no extra ligand is reported. The system is highly selective for alkyl amines, whereas benzylamine derivatives gave the nitrile product together with the imine in a ratio ranging from 14:1 to 4:1 depending on the substrate. Preliminary mechanistic investigations have been performed to identify the key factors that govern the selectivity.

Synthesis of alternating metallocopolymers by chiral recognition.

We report the synthesis of chiral enantiopure polytopic bridging ligands, which may lead to the formation of metallosupramolecular polymers with zinc (II) as metal linker. We show that chiral C2 -symmetric bisoxazoline ligands are useful moieties to efficiently generate heterochiral complexes and thus polymeric entities. The corresponding metallopolymers were further characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) to obtain information on the level of crystallinity of our different metallopolymers.

Hyperpositive non-linear effects: enantiodivergence and modelling.

The chiral ligand N-methylephedrine (NME) was found to catalyse the addition of dimethylzinc to benzaldehyde in an enantiodivergent way, with a monomeric and a homochiral dimeric complex both catalysing the reaction at a steady state and giving opposite product enantiomers. A change in the sign of the enantiomeric product was thus possible by simply varying the catalyst loading or the ligand ee, giving rise to an enantiodivergent non-linear effect. Simulations using a mathematical model confirmed the possibility of such behaviour and showed that this can lead to situations where a reaction gives racemic products, although the system is composed only of highly enantioselective individual catalysts. Furthermore, depending on the dimer's degree of participation in the catalytic conversion, enantiodivergence may or may not be observed experimentally, which raises questions about the possibility of enantiodivergence in other monomer/dimer-catalysed systems. Simulations of the reaction kinetics showed that the observed kinetic constant k obs is highly dependent on user-controlled parameters, such as the catalyst concentration and the ligand ee, and may thus vary in a distinct way from one experimental setup to another. This unusual dependency of k obs allowed us to confirm that a previously observed U-shaped catalyst order vs. catalyst loading-plot is linked to the simultaneous catalytic activity of both monomeric and dimeric complexes.

Chiral stimuli-responsive metallo-supramolecular assembly induced by CuII/CuI redox change.

We investigated the selective formation of homoleptic and heteroleptic metal complexes controlled by means of the chiral molecular instruction of the ligand and the coordination geometry of the metal. Our results showed that chiral self-recognition or self-discrimination may be induced by the CuI/CuII redox transition using cyclic voltammetry. The further use of chiral ditopic ligands led to metallo-supramolecular copolymers with stimuli-responsive controlled arrangement.

Synthesis, characterization, catalytic and biological application of half-sandwich ruthenium complexes bearing hemilabile (κ2-C,S)-thioether-functionalised NHC ligands.

A series of cationic Ru(ii)(η6-p-cymene) complexes with thioether-functionalised N-heterocyclic carbene ligands have been prepared and fully characterized. Steric and electronic influence of the R thioether substituent on the coordination of the sulfur atom was investigated. The molecular structure of three of them has been determined by means of X-ray diffractrometry and confirmed the bidentate (κ2-C,S) coordination mode of the ligand. Interestingly, only a single diastereomer, as an enantiomeric couple, was observed in the solid state for complexes 1c, 1i and 1j. DFT calculations established a low energy inversion barrier between the two diastereomers through a sulfur pyramidal inversion pathway with R donating group while a dissociative/associative mechanism is more likely with R substituents that contain electron withdrawing group, thus suggesting that the only species observed by the 1H-NMR correspond to an average resonance position of a fluxional mixtures of isomers. All these complexes were found to catalyse the oxydant-free double dehydrogenation of primary amine into nitrile. Ru complex bearing NHC-functionalised S-tBu group was further investigated in a wide range of amines and was found more selective for alkyl amine substrates than for benzylamine derivatives. Finally, preliminary results of the biological effects on various human cancer cells of four selected Ru complexes are reported.

Chiral Self-Sorting Process with Ditopic Ligands: Alternate or Block Metallopolymer Assembly as a Function of the Metal Ion.

We report an extensive study on the coordination behavior of chiral ditopic bridging ligands, which lead to metallosupramolecular polymers in the presence of Zn(II) and Cu(II) in solution. With the help of UV-vis and circular dichroism spectroscopies, we show that the metallopolymer sequence can be controlled by chirality and by the choice of the metal ion. Although the formation of a block metallopolymer proceeds through the assembly of homoleptic complexes, an alternate metallopolymer may be obtained only when heteroleptic complexes are formed. This demonstrates how the prevalent coordination geometries at metal centers may be used to control the sequences of the metallopolymers.

Homo- and Heteropolymetallic Complexes of the Hybrid, Ambidentate N-Heterocyclic Carbene Ligand IMes-acac.

The anionic 5-acetylimidazol-2-ylidene-4-olate 1 -, named as "IMes-acac", is composed of fused diaminocarbene and acetylacetonato units in the same IMes-based imidazolyl ring. The bifunctional compound 1 - is shown to act as an effective, ditopic bridging ligand for transition metal centers. Several new complexes supported by this ligand were prepared, including the complex [RuCl(p-Cym)(κ2 O,O-1·H)](BF4) (2), which can be regarded as a metallated imidazolium salt, the homobimetallic complex [((COD)Rh)(RhCl(COD))(µ-1κ2 O,O:2κ1 C-1)] (4), the heterobimetallic complexes [((p-Cym)ClRu)(RhCl(COD))(µ-1κ2 O,O:2κ1 C-1)] (3), [((p-Cym)ClRu)(RhCl(CO)2)(µ-1κ2 O,O:2κ1 C-1)] (5), [((p-Cym)ClRu)(Cu(IPr))(µ-1κ2 O,O:2κ1 C-1)] (9), the anionic homoleptic Cu(I) complexes [Cu(κ1 C-1)2]K ([10]K) and [Cu(κ1 C-1)2](NEt4) ([10](NEt4)), and the heterotrimetallic complex [((p-Cym)RuCl)2(Cu)(µ-1κ2 O,O:3κ1 C-1)(µ-2κ2 O,O:3κ1 C-1)](PF6) (11). Preliminary studies on the possible preparation of supramolecular metallopolymers and electrochemical studies on the series of complexes are also reported.

Synthesis and structural characterization of an azatitanacyclobutene: the key intermediate in the catalytic anti-Markovnikov addition of primary amines to [small alpha]-alkynes.

Reaction of the imidotitanium complexes [Ti(N(t)Bu)(N(2)N(py))(py)](1) and [Ti(N-2,6-C(6)H(3)(i)Pr(2))(N(2)N(py))(py)](2) with phenyl acetylene and tolyl acetylene in toluene gave the corresponding [2+2] cycloaddition products [Ti(N(2)N(py))[kappa(2)-N((t)Bu)CH[double bond]CR]](R = Ph:3, Tol:4) and [Ti(N(2)N(py))[kappa(2)-N(2,6-C(6)H(3)(i)Pr(2))CH[double bond]CR]](R = Ph:5, Tol: 6). Complex 6 is the first example of a key intermediate in the anti-Markovnikov addition of a primary amine to a terminal acetylene which has been structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction.

Well-defined cationic alkyl- and alkoxide-aluminum complexes and their reactivity with epsilon-caprolactone and lactides.

We describe the synthesis, structure, and reactivity of low-coordinate Al-alkyl and -alkoxide cationic complexes incorporating the sterically bulky aminophenolate bidentate ligand 6-(CH(2)NMe(2))-2-CPh(3)-4-Me-C(6)H(2)O- (N,O). These complexes are derived from the ionization of neutral dialkyl Al complexes (N,O)Al2) (1 a, R=Me; 1 b, R=iBu), readily obtained by alkane elimination between AlR3 and the corresponding aminophenol ligand, with the alkyl abstracting reagents B(C(6)F(5))3 and [Ph(3)C][B(C(6)F(5))4]. The reactions of 1 a,b with B(C(6)F(5))3 yield complicated mixtures or decomposition products, however the ionization of the Al-diisobutyl derivative 1 b with [Ph(3)C][B(C(6)F(5))4] affords a stable four-coordinate Al-PhBr cationic adduct [(N,O)Al(iBu)(PhBr)]+ (3+), as deduced from elemental analysis data. Complex 3+ readily coordinates Lewis bases such as THF to form the corresponding adduct [(N,O)Al(iBu)(thf)]+ (4+), and also rapidly chain-transfers with 1-hexene to yield the three-coordinate Al-hexyl cation [(N,O)Al-hexyl]+ (5+). Both cations 3+ and 5+ slowly dimerize to form unprecedented organoaluminum dications [(N,O)AlR+]2 (3'++, R=iBu; 5'++, R=hexyl) as deduced from X-ray crystallographic analysis. Cation 3+ reacts quickly with iPrOH to form a stable Lewis acid/base adduct [(N,O)Al(iBu)(HOiPr)]+ (6+), which constitutes the first X-ray characterized adduct between an Al-alkyl complex and a simple ROH. The Al-ROH proton in 6+ is readily abstracted by NMe(2)Ph to form the neutral isopropoxide Al complex [(N,O)Al(iBu)(OiPr)] (7). Upon reaction with THF, cation 6+ undergoes an intramolecular proton transfer to yield the ammonium Al-THF complex [(eta1-HN,O)Al(iBu)(OiPr)(thf)] (8 b+), in which the aminophenolate is eta1-coordinated to the Al center. Cation 8 b+ can then be converted to the desired Al-alkoxide derivative [(N,O)Al(OiPr)(thf)](+) (10+), by an intramolecular protonolysis reaction, as confirmed by X-ray crystallography. The synthesized Al-alkyl cations form robust four-coordinate adducts in the presence of cyclic esters such as epsilon-caprolactone and (D,L)-lactide, but no insertion chemistry occurs, illustrating the poor ability of the Al-R+ moiety to ring-open. In contrast, the Al-alkoxide cation 10+ polymerizes epsilon-caprolactone in a controlled manner with excellent activity, but is inactive in the polymerization of (D,L)-lactide and L-lactide. Control experiments with L-lactide show that cation 10+ ring-opens L-lactide to yield a robust five-coordinated Al--lactate cation [(N,O)Al(eta2-L-lactate-OiPr)(thf)]+ (13+), derived from a monoinsertion of L-lactide into the Al--OiPr bond of 10+, that does not further react. Cation 13+ may be regarded as a structurally characterized close mimic of the initial intermediate in the ring opening polymerization (ROP), of lactides by [{LX}M(OR)(L)] (where LX-=bidentate monoanionic ligand and L=labile ligand) metal complex initiators.