Light-Driven Enantioselective Carbene-Catalyzed Radical-Radical Coupling.

An enantioselective carbene-catalyzed radical-radical coupling of acyl imidazoles and racemic Hantzsch esters is disclosed. This method involves the coupling of an N-heterocyclic carbene-derived ketyl radical and a secondary sp3 -carbon radical and allows access to chiral α-aryl aliphatic ketones in moderate-to-good yields and enantioselectivities without any competitive epimerization. The utility of this protocol is highlighted by the late-stage functionalization of various pharmaceutical compounds and is further demonstrated by the transformation of the enantioenriched products to biologically relevant molecules. Computational investigations reveal the N-heterocyclic carbene controls the double-facial selectivity of the ketyl radical and the alkyl radicals, respectively.

Enantioselective Copper-Catalyzed Borylative Amidation of Allenes.

An approach for the copper-catalyzed synthesis of enantioenriched amides bearing an α-stereogenic center is disclosed. This method involves the addition of an allyl copper species to an isocyanate and allows access to α-substituted chiral amides in high yields and high-to-excellent enantioselectivities. The utility of α-vinyl ß-boryl amides in synthesis is highlighted by the diversification of products to afford highly useful scaffolds. DFT calculations reveal that the catalyst preferentially coordinates to the oxygen of the isocyanate. Enantiocontrol arises from the steric repulsion between the boryl group and the stereodirecting phenyl of the chiral ligand.

Assessing the oxidative potential of PAHs in ambient PM2.5 using the DTT consumption assay.

The oxidative potential (OP) of atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has been linked to organic content, which includes polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The OP of 135 individual PAHs (including six subclasses) was measured using the dithiolthreitol (DTT) consumption assay. The DTT assay results were used to compute the concentration of each PAH needed to consume 50% of the DTT concentration in the assay (DTT50), and the reduction potential of the PAHs (ΔGrxn). Computed reduction potential results were found to match literature reduction potential values (r2 = 0.97), while DTT50 results had no correlations with the computed ΔGrxn values (r2 < 0.1). The GINI equality index was used to assess the electron distribution across the surface of unreacted and reacted PAHs. GINI values correlated with ΔGrxn in UPAH, HPAH, and OHPAH subclasses, as well as with all 135 PAHs in this study but did not correlate with DTT50, indicating that electron dispersion is linked to thermodynamic reactions and structural differences in PAHs, but not linked to the OP of PAHs. Three ambient PM2.5 filters extracts were measured in the DTT assay, alongside mixtures of analytical standards prepared to match PAH concentrations in the filter extracts to test if the OP follows an additive model of toxicity. The additive prediction model did not accurately predict the DTT consumption in the assay for any of the prepared standard mixtures or ambient PM2.5 filter extracts, indicating a much more complex model of toxicity for the OP of PAHs in ambient PM2.5. This study combined computed molecular properties with toxicologically relevant assay results to probe the OP of anthropogenically driven portions of ambient PM2.5, and results in a better understanding of the complexity of ambient PM2.5 OP.

Neutron Total Scattering Studies of Group II Titanates (ATiO3, A2+ = Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba).

Neutron total scattering measurements were conducted on MgTiO3, CaTiO3, SrTiO3, and BaTiO3 to simultaneously investigate the local and average structure of these materials. The local structures of MgTiO3, CaTiO3, and SrTiO3 were well modelled using the refined average structural models: trigonal R[Formula: see text], orthorhombic Pbnm, and cubic Pm[Formula: see text]m respectively. However the local structure for BaTiO3, at both temperatures where the average structure is orthorhombic Amm2 and tetragonal P4mm, was best described by the rhombohedral R3m model. Only the R3m model was able to account for the observed displacement of titanium in the [111] direction. Furthermore, box-car type refinements were conducted. These refinements show that the coherence length of the rhombohedral distortion is around 10 Å, at larger r-ranges the local distortions become misaligned and average out to Amm2 and P4mm.

Palladium-catalyzed synthesis of ß-hydroxy compounds via a strained 6,4-palladacycle from directed C-H activation of anilines and C-O insertion of epoxides.

A palladium-catalyzed C-H activation of acetylated anilines (acetanilides, 1,1-dimethyl-3-phenylurea, 1-phenylpyrrolidin-2-one, and 1-(indolin-1-yl)ethan-1-one) with epoxides using O-coordinating directing groups was accomplished. This C-H alkylation reaction proceeds via formation of a previously unknown 6,4-palladacycle intermediate and provides rapid access to regioselectively functionalized ß-hydroxy products. Notably, this catalytic system is applicable for the gram scale mono-functionalization of acetanilide in good yields. The palladium-catalyzed coupling reaction of the ortho-C(sp2) atom of O-coordinating directing groups with a C(sp3) carbon of chiral epoxides offers diverse substrate scope in good to excellent yields. In addition, further transformations of the synthesized compound led to biologically important heterocycles. Density functional theory reveals that the 6,4-palladacycle leveraged in this work is significantly more strained (>10 kcal mol-1) than the literature known 5,4 palladacycles.

Infrared Ion Spectroscopy of Environmental Organic Mixtures: Probing the Composition of α-Pinene Secondary Organic Aerosol.

Characterizing the chemical composition of organic aerosols can elucidate aging mechanisms as well as the chemical and physical properties of the aerosol. However, the high chemical complexity and often low atmospheric abundance present a difficult analytical challenge. Milligrams or more of material may be needed for speciated spectroscopic analysis. In contrast, mass spectrometry provides a very sensitive platform but limited structural information. Here, we combine the strengths of mass spectrometry and infrared (IR) action spectroscopy to generate characteristic IR spectra of individual, mass-isolated ion populations. Soft ionization combined with in situ infrared ion spectroscopy, using the tunable free-electron laser FELIX, provides detailed information on molecular structures and functional groups. We apply this technique, along with quantum mechanical modeling, to characterize organic molecules in secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formed from the ozonolysis of α-pinene. Spectral overlap with a standard is used to identify cis-pinonic acid. We also demonstrate the characterization of isomers for multiple SOA products using both quantum mechanical computations and analyses of fragment ion spectra. These results demonstrate the detailed structural information on isolated ions obtained by combining mass spectrometry with fingerprint IR spectroscopy.

Carbene-Catalyzed Enantioselective Decarboxylative Annulations to Access Dihydrobenzoxazinones and Quinolones.

A direct decarboxylative strategy for the generation of aza-o-quinone methides (aza-o-QMs) by N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalysis has been discovered and explored. This process requires no stoichiometric additives in contrast with current approaches. Aza-o-QMs react with trifluoromethyl ketones through a formal [4+2] manifold to access highly enantioenriched dihydrobenzoxazin-4-one products, which can be converted to dihydroquinolones through an interesting stereoretentive aza-Petasis-Ferrier rearrangement sequence. Complementary dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT) studies provided an accurate prediction of the reaction enantioselectivity and lend further insight to the origins of stereocontrol. Additionally, a computed potential energy surface around the major transition structure suggests a concerted asynchronous mechanism for the formal annulation.

Conformationally flexible arylethynyl bis-urea receptors bind disparate oxoanions with similar, high affinities.

Conformationally flexible hosts with relatively small binding pockets are seldom shown to bind oxoanions preferentially over other guests. Herein, we disclose the binding of diprotic, monoprotic, and aprotic tetrahedral oxoanions with three different pyridylethynyl bis-urea scaffolds. In less polar solvent, the trend in association constants appears to be heavily influenced by solvation and entropic effects. However, in a more polar solvent, the trend in association constants matches that of the pKa of the conjugate acid of the anionic guest, as expected for H-bond donating hosts.

Enantioselective Synthesis of α-Amidoboronates Catalyzed by Planar-Chiral NHC-Cu(I) Complexes.

The first highly selective catalytic hydroboration of alkyl-substituted aldimines to provide medicinally relevant α-amidoboronates is disclosed. The Cu(I)-catalyzed borylation proceeds with excellent facial selectivity when a set of planar-chiral N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) were employed as ligands. Density functional theory computations suggest that interactions between BPin and the planar-chiral catalyst are responsible for the observed stereoselectivity. Important pharmacophores, such as the boronate analogue of isoleucine, can be prepared using a chromatography-free protocol starting from commercially available reagents. The application of these NHC ligands in these Cu(I)-catalyzed processes offers a significant contribution to existing strategies for laboratory-scale preparation of enantioenriched α-amidoboronates.

Automating data analysis for two-dimensional gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry non-targeted analysis of comparative samples.

Non-targeted analysis of environmental samples, using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC/ToF-MS), poses significant data analysis challenges due to the large number of possible analytes. Non-targeted data analysis of complex mixtures is prone to human bias and is laborious, particularly for comparative environmental samples such as contaminated soil pre- and post-bioremediation. To address this research bottleneck, we developed OCTpy, a Python™ script that acts as a data reduction filter to automate GC × GC/ToF-MS data analysis from LECO® ChromaTOF® software and facilitates selection of analytes of interest based on peak area comparison between comparative samples. We used data from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contaminated soil, pre- and post-bioremediation, to assess the effectiveness of OCTpy in facilitating the selection of analytes that have formed or degraded following treatment. Using datasets from the soil extracts pre- and post-bioremediation, OCTpy selected, on average, 18% of the initial suggested analytes generated by the LECO® ChromaTOF® software Statistical Compare feature. Based on this list, 63-100% of the candidate analytes identified by a highly trained individual were also selected by OCTpy. This process was accomplished in several minutes per sample, whereas manual data analysis took several hours per sample. OCTpy automates the analysis of complex mixtures of comparative samples, reduces the potential for human error during heavy data handling and decreases data analysis time by at least tenfold.

A Carbene Catalysis Strategy for the Synthesis of Protoilludane Natural Products.

The Armillaria and Lactarius genera of fungi produce the antimicrobial and cytotoxic mellolide, protoilludane, and marasmane sesquiterpenoids. We report a unified synthetic strategy to access the protoilludane, mellolide, and marasmane families of natural products. The key features of these syntheses are 1) the organocatalytic, enantioselective construction of key chiral intermediates from a simple achiral precursor, 2) the utility of a key 1,2-cyclobutanediol intermediate to serve as a precursor to each natural product class, and 3) a direct chemical conversion of a protoilludane to a marasmane through serendipitous ring contraction, which provides experimental support for their proposed biosynthetic relationships.

Computational and Experimental Evidence of Emergent Equilibrium Isotope Effects in Anion Receptor Complexes.

The measurement of a deuterium equilibrium isotope effect (EIE) for the aryl CH···Cl- interaction of anion receptor 1H/1D is reported. Computations corroborate the results of solution measurements for a small, normal EIE in the full complex (KaH/KaD = 1.019 ± 0.010). Interestingly, isotope effects involving fragments of the anion receptor (urea, aryl ring, etc.) are predicted to produce an inverse effect. This points to an unusual and subtle structural organization effect of the anion receptor complex that changes the nature of the combined interactions to a normal isotope effect. The reversal of EIE values suggests that overall architecture of the anion receptor can dramatically impact the nature of bonding in these complexes.

MIDA boronates are hydrolysed fast and slow by two different mechanisms.

MIDA boronates (N-methylimidodiacetic boronic acid esters) serve as an increasingly general platform for small-molecule construction based on building blocks, largely because of the dramatic and general rate differences with which they are hydrolysed under various basic conditions. Yet the mechanistic underpinnings of these rate differences have remained unclear, which has hindered efforts to address the current limitations of this chemistry. Here we show that there are two distinct mechanisms for this hydrolysis: one is base mediated and the other neutral. The former can proceed more than three orders of magnitude faster than the latter, and involves a rate-limiting attack by a hydroxide at a MIDA carbonyl carbon. The alternative 'neutral' hydrolysis does not require an exogenous acid or base and involves rate-limiting B-N bond cleavage by a small water cluster, (H2O)n. The two mechanisms can operate in parallel, and their relative rates are readily quantified by 18O incorporation. Whether hydrolysis is 'fast' or 'slow' is dictated by the pH, the water activity and the mass-transfer rates between phases. These findings stand to enable, in a rational way, an even more effective and widespread utilization of MIDA boronates in synthesis.

Isomerization of Keggin Al13 Ions Followed by Diffusion Rates.

The solution chemistry of aluminum has long interested scientists due to its relevance to materials chemistry and geochemistry. The dynamic behavior of large aluminum-oxo-hydroxo clusters, specifically [Al13 O4 (OH)24 (H2 O)12 ]7+ (Al13 ), is the focus of this paper. 27 Al NMR, 1 H NMR, and 1 H DOSY techniques were used to follow the isomerization of the ϵ-Al13 in the presence of glycine and Ca2+ at 90 °C. Although the conversion of ϵ-Al13 to new clusters and/or Baker-Figgis-Keggin isomers has been studied previously, new 1 H NMR and 1 H DOSY analyses provided information about the role of glycine, the ligated intermediates, and the mechanism of isomerization. New 1 H NMR data suggest that glycine plays a critical role in the isomerization. Surprisingly, glycine does not bind to Al30 clusters, which were previously proposed as an intermediate in the isomerization. Additionally, a highly symmetric tetrahedral signal (δ=72 ppm) appeared during the isomerization process, which evidence suggests corresponds to the long-sought α-Al13 isomer in solution.

Towards theory driven structure elucidation of complex natural products: mandelalides and coibamide A.

The effectiveness of computational tools in determining relative configurations of complex molecules is investigated, using natural products mandelalides A-D and coibamide A, towards a generalized recipe for the scientific community at large. Ultimately, continuing efforts in this vein will accelerate and strengthen relative structure elucidation of complex molecules, such as natural products. Molecular mechanics conformational search, quantum mechanical NMR chemical shift predictions, and DP4 analyses led to confirmation of the revised structures of mandelalides A-D and coibamide A. All chiral centers in the northern hemisphere of mandelalides A-D are inverted with respect to the originally proposed structures, in agreement with recent total syntheses of mandelalide A by Ye, Fürstner & Carter. In the case of coibamide A, it was found that Fang & Su's revision, in which both the macrocycle [MeAla(11)] and the side chain [HIV(2)] residues are inverted from l to d, was consistent with the authentic natural product and computations.

An overview of selected current approaches to the characterization of aqueous inorganic clusters.

This Perspective article highlights some of the traditional and non-traditional analytical tools that are presently used to characterize aqueous inorganic nanoscale clusters and polyoxometalate ions. The techniques discussed in this article include nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), dynamic and phase analysis light scattering (DLS and PALS), Raman spectroscopy, and quantum mechanical computations (QMC). For each method we briefly describe how it functions and illustrate how these techniques are used to study cluster species in the solid state and in solution through several representative case studies. In addition to highlighting the utility of these techniques, we also discuss limitations of each approach and measures that can be applied to circumvent such limits as it pertains to aqueous inorganic cluster characterization.

Asymmetric homoenolate additions to acyl phosphonates through rational design of a tailored N-heterocyclic carbene catalyst.

A highly selective NHC-catalyzed synthesis of γ-butyrolactones from the fusion of enals and α-ketophosphonates has been developed. Computational modeling of competing transition states guided a rational design strategy to achieve enhanced levels of enantioselectivity with a new tailored C1-symmetric biaryl-saturated imidazolium-derived NHC catalyst.

Indolyne experimental and computational studies: synthetic applications and origins of selectivities of nucleophilic additions.

Efficient syntheses of 4,5-, 5,6-, and 6,7-indolyne precursors beginning from commercially available hydroxyindole derivatives are reported. The synthetic routes are versatile and allow access to indolyne precursors that remain unsubstituted on the pyrrole ring. Indolynes can be generated under mild fluoride-mediated conditions, trapped by a variety of nucleophilic reagents, and used to access a number of novel substituted indoles. Nucleophilic addition reactions to indolynes proceed with varying degrees of regioselectivity; distortion energies control regioselectivity and provide a simple model to predict the regioselectivity in the nucleophilic additions to indolynes and other unsymmetrical arynes. This model has led to the design of a substituted 4,5-indolyne that exhibits enhanced nucleophilic regioselectivity.

Indolyne and aryne distortions and nucleophilic regioselectivites.

Density functional theory computations reproduce the surprisingly high regioselectivities in nucleophilic additions and cycloadditions to 4,5-indolynes and the low regioselectivities in the reactions of 5,6-indolynes. Transition-state distortion energies control the regioselectivities, activating the 5 and 6 positions over the 4 and 7 positions, leading to high preferences for 5- and 6-substituted products from 4,5- and 6,7-indolynes, respectively. Orbital and electrostatic interactions have only minor effects, producing low regioselectivities in the reactions of 5,6-indolynes. The distortion model predicts high regioselectivities with 6,7-indolynes; these have been verified experimentally. The regioselectivities found with other arynes are explained on the basis of distortion energies that are reflected in reactant geometries.