Domino Staudinger/aza-Wittig/Mannich Reaction: An Approach to Diversity of Di- and Tetrahydropyrrole Scaffolds.

A highly efficient and selective domino reaction producing valuable di- and tetrahydropyrrole-based skeletons from azidoethyl-substituted CH-acids and (thio)carbonyl compounds has been developed. By involving the additional functional groups in starting compounds into the domino reaction or postmodification of the primary reaction products, the simple construction of the pharmaceutically relevant three- and polycyclic azaheterocyclic scaffolds was demonstrated.

Exclusive selectivity in the one-pot formation of C-C and C-Se bonds involving Ni-catalyzed alkyne hydroselenation: optimization of the synthetic procedure and a mechanistic study.

A unique Ni-catalyzed transformation is reported for the one-pot highly selective synthesis of previously unknown monoseleno-substituted 1,3-dienes starting from easily available terminal alkynes and benzeneselenol. The combination of a readily available catalyst precursor, Ni(acac)2, and an appropriately tuned phosphine ligand, PPh2Cy, resulted in the exclusive assembly of the s-gauche diene skeleton via the selective formation of C-C and C-Se bonds. The unusual diene products were stable under regular experimental conditions, and the products maintained the s-gauche geometry both in the solid state and in solution, as confirmed by X-ray analysis and NMR spectroscopy. Thorough mechanistic studies using ESI-MS revealed the key Ni-containing species involved in the reaction.

Catalytic adaptive recognition of thiol (SH) and selenol (SeH) groups toward synthesis of functionalized vinyl monomers.

An unprecedented sustainable procedure was developed to produce functionalized vinyl monomers H(2)C═C(R)(FG) starting from a mixture of sulfur and selenium compounds as a functional group donor (FG = S or Se). The reaction serves as a model for efficient utilization of natural resources of sulfur feedstock in oil and technological sources of sulfur/selenium. The catalytic system is reported with amazing ability to recognize SH/SeH groups in the mixture and selectively incorporate them into valuable organic products via wastes-free atom-economic reaction with alkynes (HC≡CR). Formation of catalyst active site and the mechanism of the catalytic reaction were revealed by joint experimental and theoretical study. The difference in reactivity of µ(1)- and µ(2)-type chalcogen atoms attached to the metal was established and was shown to play the key role in the action of palladium catalyst. An approach to solve a challenging problem of dynamically changed reaction mixture was demonstrated using adaptive tuning of the catalyst. The origins of the adaptive tuning effect were investigated at molecular level and were found to be governed by the nature of metal-chalcogen bond.

Stereochemical study of the sterically crowded phenylselanylalkenes by means of (77)Se-(1)H spin-spin coupling constants.

Stereochemical study of five sterically crowded phenylselanylalkenes obtained via the hydroselenation of either terminal or internal alkynes with benzeneselenol catalyzed by the nanosized Ni complexes has been carried out based on the experimental HMBC measurements and theoretical second order palarization propagator approach (SOPPA) calculations of their (77)Se-(1)H spin-spin coupling constants across double bond in combination with the energy-based theoretical conformational analysis performed at the MP2/6-311G** level. It has been found that studied phenylselanylalkenes adopt mainly skewed s-cis conformation with the noticeable out-of-plane deviations of the phenylselanyl and phenyl groups.

First principles design of derivatizing agent for direct determination of enantiomeric purity of chiral alcohols and amines by NMR spectroscopy.

(77)Se NMR offers superior sensing of chirality within the structure of the diastereomers (Deltadelta up to 6.1 ppm), compared to (13)C (Deltadelta < 1 ppm) and (1)H (Deltadelta < 0.2 ppm). The developed procedure is equally well suitable for determination of the enantiomeric purity of chiral alcohols and amines as pure samples as well as reaction mixtures and crude products.

Two distinct mechanisms of alkyne insertion into the metal-sulfur bond: combined experimental and theoretical study and application in catalysis.

The present study reports the evidence for the multiple carbon-carbon bond insertion into the metal-heteroatom bond via a five-coordinate metal complex. Detailed analysis of the model catalytic reaction of the carbon-sulfur (C-S) bond formation unveiled the mechanism of metal-mediated alkyne insertion: a new pathway of C-S bond formation without preliminary ligand dissociation was revealed based on experimental and theoretical investigations. According to this pathway alkyne insertion into the metal-sulfur bond led to the formation of intermediate metal complex capable of direct C-S reductive elimination. In contrast, an intermediate metal complex formed through alkyne insertion through the traditional pathway involving preliminary ligand dissociation suffered from "improper" geometry configuration, which may block the whole catalytic cycle. A new catalytic system was developed to solve the problem of stereoselective S-S bond addition to internal alkynes and a cost-efficient Ni-catalyzed synthetic procedure is reported to furnish formation of target vinyl sulfides with high yields (up to 99%) and excellent Z/E selectivity (>99:1).