General Cyclopropane Assembly by Enantioselective Transfer of a Redox-Active Carbene to Aliphatic Olefins.

Asymmetric cyclopropane synthesis currently requires bespoke strategies, methods, substrates, and reagents, even when targeting similar compounds. This approach slows down discovery and limits available chemical space. Introduced herein is a practical and versatile diazocompound and its performance in the first unified asymmetric synthesis of functionalized cyclopropanes. The redox-active leaving group in this reagent enhances the reactivity and selectivity of geminal carbene transfer. This effect allowed the asymmetric cyclopropanation of various olefins, including unfunctionalized aliphatic alkenes, that enables the three-step total synthesis of (-)-dictyopterene A. This unified synthetic approach delivers high enantioselectivities that are independent of the stereoelectronic properties of the functional groups transferred. Our results demonstrate that orthogonally differentiated diazocompounds are viable and advantageous equivalents of single-carbon chirons.

N-H cleavage as a route to new pincer complexes of high-valent rhenium.

A novel PNN-type pincer ligand has been accessed via imine reduction with LiAlH4 to provide the phosphine diamino proligand, PNHNH (1). The ligand, 1, as well as PNHP can be metallated directly, via N-H cleavage, with L2ReOX2(OEt) precursors to access six-coordinate (PNP)ReOCl2 (2) and (PNNH)ReOX2 (3-Cl, X = Cl; 3-Br, X = Br) in good yield. 3-Cl and 3-Br undergo dehydrohalogenation upon treatment with NEt3, furnishing the five-coordinate phosphine/diamido PNN-type compounds (PNN)ReOX (4-Cl, X = Cl; 4-Br, X = Br) in excellent yield, presenting as a mixture of rotameric diasteromers. The reversibility of this deprotonation, and the coordinative unsaturation of 4-Cl is shown in reactions with HCl(aq) and PMe3 providing 3-Cl and 4-PMe3, respectively. Treatment of 4-Cl with AgOAc, AgOTf, or NaHBEt3 lead to formation of (PNN)ReO(OAc) (4-OAc), (PNN)ReO(OTf) (4-OTf), and (PNN)ReO(H) (4-H), all isolated in excellent yields in varying diasteromeric ratios. The nature of the isomerism was analyzed based on solid-state structural studies and solution NMR data.

Chemo- and Regioselective Functionalization of Polyols through Catalytic C(sp(3))-C(sp(3)) Kumada-Type Coupling of Cyclic Sulfate Esters.

This contribution describes a copper-catalyzed, C(sp(3))-C(sp(3)) cross-coupling reaction of cyclic sulfate esters, a distinct class of electrophilic derivatives of polyols, with alkyl Grignard reagents to afford functionalized alcohol products in good yields. The method is operationally simple and highlights the potential of cyclic sulfate esters as highly reactive substrates in catalytic, chemoselective polyol transformations.

Correction: Convenient C-alkylation of the [HCB11Cl11](-) carborane anion.

Correction for 'Convenient C-alkylation of the [HCB11Cl11](-) carborane anion' by Rodrigo Ramírez-Contreras and Oleg V. Ozerov, Dalton Trans., 2012, 41, 7842-7844.

Convenient C-alkylation of the [HCB11Cl11]- carborane anion.

A method for C-alkylation of [HCB(11)Cl(11)](-) anions using potassium tert-butoxide and alkyl iodides in tert-butanol is presented. Trimethylammonium salts of the corresponding C-alkylated derivatives are easily isolated and obtained in good yields.