Nickel-Catalyzed CO2 Rearrangement of Enol Metal Carbonates for the Efficient Synthesis of ß-Ketocarboxylic Acids.

4-Methylene-1,3-dioxolan-2-ones underwent oxidative addition of a Ni0 catalyst in the presence of Me2 Al(OMe), followed by a coupling reaction with alkynes, to form δ,ϵ-unsaturated ß-ketocarboxylic acids with high regio- and stereoselectivity. The reaction proceeds by [1,3] rearrangement of an enol metal carbonate intermediate and the formal reinsertion of CO2 .

Ni-catalyzed homoallylation of polyhydroxy n,o-acetals with conjugated dienes promoted by triethylborane.

In the presence of Ni-catalyst and triethylborane, N,O-acetals prepared from glycolaldehyde and glyceraldehyde with primary amines in situ underwent homoallylation with conjugated dienes to provide 2-amino-5-hexenols in high regio- and stereoselectivity. Under similar reaction conditions, N,O-acetals from carbohydrates with primary amines provided the corresponding polyhydroxy-bishomoallylamines in good to reasonable yields.

Efficient and selective formation of unsaturated carboxylic and phenylacetic acids from diketene.

A nickel catalyst promotes the multicomponent coupling reaction of diketene, an alkyne, and Me2Zn to provide 3-methylene-4-hexenoic acids in excellent yields. Under similar conditions, the combination of the nickel catalyst and Et2Al(OEt) promotes a cycloaddition reaction involving dimerization of an alkyne to furnish phenylacetic acids. In the presence of PPh3, a formal [2+2+1+1] cycloaddition reaction proceeds to afford regioisomeric phenylacetic acids via cleavage of the C=C bond.

Iridium-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition of α,ω-diynes with nitriles.

[Ir(cod)Cl](2)/DPPF or BINAP efficiently catalyzed the cycloaddition of α,ω-diynes with nitriles to give pyridines. The reaction can accommodate a very wide range of nitriles. Both aliphatic and aromatic nitriles smoothly reacted with α,ω-diynes to give pyridines. Ten equivalents of unactivated aliphatic nitrile were enough to give the product in high yield. Aliphatic nitriles bearing an acetal or amino moiety could be used for the reaction. The highly regioselective cycloaddition of unsymmetrical diyne bearing two different internal alkyne moieties was achieved. The observed regioselectivity could be reasonably explained by considering the different reactivities of the α-position in iridacyclopentadiene. Regioselective cycloaddition was successfully applied to the synthesis of terpyridine and quinquepyridine. This chemistry was extended to a new and efficient synthesis of oligoheteroarenes. Five aromatic or heteroaromatic rings were connected in a single operation. [Ir(cod)Cl](2)/chiral diphosphine catalyst can be applied to enantioselective synthesis. Kinetic resolution of the racemic secondary benzyl nitrile catalyzed by [Ir(cod)Cl](2)/SEGPHOS gave a central carbon chiral pyridine in 80% ee. The mechanism was analyzed on the basis of the B3LYP level of density functional calculations.

Stereodefined construction of trisubstituted alkenes by direct coupling reaction of allylating agents, alkynes, and organoboranes.

Tandem reaction: The Pd-catalyzed three-component coupling reaction of an allylic alcohol, terminal alkyne, and organoborane to give (E)-1-substituted 2-alkyl-1,4-pentadienes, involving geminal allylation and alkylation at the acetylenic terminal carbon, is described. Bis-diene undergoes a similar multicomponent coupling reaction with acetylene and organoborane, involving cyclization of bis-π-allylpalladium, to form trans-allyl pentadienyl cyclic and heterocyclic compounds with excellent regio- and stereoselectivities (see scheme).

Iridium-catalyzed [2+2+2] cycloaddition of α,ω-diynes with isocyanates.

[Ir(cod)Cl](2)/BINAP was found to be an efficient catalyst for the [2+2+2] cycloaddition of α,ω-diynes with isocyanates to give 2-pyridones. A wide range of isocyanates can be used for this reaction. Both aliphatic and aromatic isocyanates smoothly reacted with α,ω-diynes to give 2-pyridones in high yields. Aliphatic isocyanates were more reactive than aromatic isocyanates. For aromatic isocyanates, the electronic properties of the substituents affected the reactivity: electron-donating substituents enhanced the reaction. The reaction of unsymmetrical α,ω-diynes possessing two different internal alkyne moieties with isocyanates was regiospecific and gave a single product. This regioselectivity could be explained by the reaction of iridacyclopentadiene with a nitrogen-carbon double bond. The regioselectivity of the reaction of malonate-derived diyne was controlled by a steric effect, while that of the reaction of ester-tethered diyne was controlled by an electronic effect. [Ir(cod)Cl](2)/chiral diphosphine catalyst could be used for the enantioselective synthesis of C-N axially chiral 2-pyridone. The reaction of diyne 1a with o-methoxyphenyl isocyanate (7a) gave C-N axially chiral 2-pyridone (R)-8aa in 78% yield with 94% ee.

Copper-Catalyzed Stereodefined Construction of Acrylic Acid Derivatives from Terminal Alkynes via CO2 Insertion.

IPrCuCl catalyzes the CO2 insertion reaction undergone by a dialkylvinylborane intermediate derived from alkynyltrialkylborate by a 1,2-alkyl group migration to afford α-alkyl acrylic acids with excellent regio- and stereoselectivities.

Direct Allylic Amination of Allylic Alcohol Catalyzed by Palladium Complex Bearing Phosphine-Borane Ligand.

The direct electrophilic, nucleophilic, and amphiphilic allylations of allylic alcohol by use of a palladium catalyst and organometallic reagents such as organoborane and organozinc has been developed. The phosphine-borane compound works as the effective ligand for palladium-catalyzed direct allylic amination of allylic alcohol. Thus, with secondary amines, the reaction was completed in only 1 h, even at room temperature.

Ruthenium-catalyzed formation of aryl(diphenyl)phosphine oxides by reactions of propargylic alcohols with diphenylphosphine oxide.

1,1-Diaryl-1-penten-4-yn-3-ols react with diphenylphosphine oxide in the presence of a thiolate-bridged diruthenium complex as a catalyst and give high yields of aryl(diphenyl)phosphine oxide products via an initial substitution followed by a cyclization at the produced allene intermediate. [reaction: see text]

Palladium-catalyzed [4 + 2] cycloaddition of aldimines and 1,4-dipolar equivalents via amphiphilic allylation.

The combination of Pd catalyst and diethylzinc with triethylborane promotes the amphiphilic allylation of aldimines with 2,3-bismethylenebutane-1,4-diol derivatives to serve as bis-allylic zwitterion species to form 3,4-bismethylenepiperidines via a formal [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction. 3,4-Bismethylenepiperidine rings are applicable for the synthesis of isoquinoline derivatives via the Diels-Alder reaction followed by an oxidation reaction with DDQ.

Molecular-shape selectivity by naphthalimido-modified silica stationary phases: Insight into the substituents effect of naphthalene on shape recognition and π-π interactions via electrostatic potential.

This report describes the molecular-shape selectivity of four naphthalimido-modified silica (NIM) stationary phases. To investigate the selectivity, several alkylbenzenes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were tested using capillary electrochromatography (CEC) with each NIM stationary phase. Results revealed that nitro group-substituted NIM phases had outstanding molecular-shape recognition ability toward PAHs; a strong negative correlation existed between the k' value and L/B ratio that is opposite those observed for C18 phases, in addition, one possessed 10-fold greater molecular-shape recognition ability compared to existing stationary phases. In addition, the position of the nitro group on the naphthalimide moiety modulated the π-stacking interaction due to steric hindrance. Furthermore, structure optimization and electrostatic potential (ESP) surfaces were used to clarify the mechanism of recognition. Based on this high recognition ability, separations of several positional isomers were examined. Results indicated that structure optimization and ESP maps could reveal the effect of functional groups on π-π interactions, which will aid in the design of new NIM stationary phases with shape selectivity, while taking advantage of electrostatic interactions.

Double phosphinylation of propargylic alcohols: a novel synthetic route to 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane derivatives.

[reaction: see text] Double phosphinylation of propargylic alcohols with diphenylphosphine oxide in the presence of a thiolate-bridged diruthenium complex as catalyst gives the corresponding 2,3-bis(diphenylphosphinyl)-1-propenes in high yields with a complete selectivity.

Highly regio- and stereoselective addition of 1,3-diketones to internal alkynes catalyzed by cationic iridium complex.

The first regio- and stereoselective addition of 1,3-diketones to unfunctionalized internal alkynes under neutral conditions is achieved by using [Ir(cod)(2)]SbF(6) as a catalyst.

Ruthenium-catalyzed reactions of 1-cyclopropyl-2-propyn-1-ols with anilines and water via allenylidene intermediates: selective preparation of tri- and tetrasubstituted conjugated enynes.

Ruthenium-catalyzed efficient preparation of the conjugated enynes can be carried out in the reactions of 1-cyclopropyl-2-propyn-1-ols with nitrogen- and oxygen-centered nucleophiles such as anilines and water in the presence of a catalytic amount of sulfur-bridged diruthenium complexes. The use of such complexes as catalysts realizes the completely stereoselective preparation of tri- and tetrasubstituted conjugated enynes, where ruthenium-allenylidene complexes work as key intermediates. The direct attack of nucleophiles on a cyclopropane ring connected to an allenylidene ligand is a key step to obtain the enynes stereoselectively.

Low-temperature dynamic light scattering. I. Structural reorganization and physical gel formation in cellulose triacetate/methyl acetate dilute solution at -99 - 45 degrees C.

Curious low-temperature solubility of cellulose triacetates (CTA; here we use nominally "CTA," but the sample still contains 7% of C-6 position hydroxyls) in an organic solvent, methyl acetate (MA), was studied by a newly designed low-temperature type of DLS apparatus, which enabled for the first time to investigate the structural change of CTA in solution from 45 degrees C down to -100 degrees C. A molecularly dissolved CTA was found to coexist with three types of self-assemblies over all the temperature ranges except for the three specific temperatures T* of 30, -10, and -75 degrees C. However, these multiple self-assemblies are not in real thermodynamic equilibrium but in a metastable state, which could be stabilized effectively by the intermolecular hydrogen bonding (HB) with the help of the dipole interaction at low temperatures. In more detail, with decreasing temperature, these assemblies performed the structural reorganization drastically at three T*'s and would finally be frozen in a physical gel structure at -99 degrees C; around the freezing temperature of MA, CTA molecules could be trapped homogeneously in the frozen MA. The crucial role in such structural reorganizations is played by the balance between the intermolecular HB and the dipole interaction worked in the highly electronegative solvent. Because these interactions, which are mediated by the solvent electronegativity, change drastically with temperature, they result in the control of not only the single CTA chain conformation (= the intramolecular HB) but also the binding ways of the intermolecular HBs between CTA molecules and they induce multitudinous metastable structures in solution. Here it is noted that HB could work mainly between the C-6 position hydroxyls in the anhydroglucose units of CTA and are essentially effective at low temperatures.

Oxidative kinetic resolution of racemic alcohols catalyzed by chiral ferrocenyloxazolinylphosphine-ruthenium complexes.

Oxidative kinetic resolution of racemic secondary alcohols by using acetone as a hydrogen acceptor in the presence of a catalytic amount of [RuCl(2)(PPh(3))(ferrocenyloxazolinylphosphine)] (2) proceeds effectively to recover the corresponding alcohols in high yields with an excellent enantioselectivity. When 1-indanol is employed as a racemic alcohol, the oxidation proceeds quite smoothly even in the presence of 0.0025 mol % of the catalyst 2 to give an optically active 1-indanol in good yield with high enantioselectivity (up to 94% ee), where turnover frequency (TOF) exceeds 80,000 h(-1). From a practical viewpoint, the kinetic resolution is investigated in a large scale, optically pure (S)-1-indanol (75 g, 56% yield, >99% ee) being obtained from racemic 1-indanol (134 g) by employing this kinetic resolution method twice.