PC-Phos Enabled Catalytic Palladium-heteroallyl Asymmetric Cycloaddition.

Asymmetric cycloaddition reactions are the most powerful tool to the expeditious construction of enantioenriched cyclic motifs in organic chemistry. In sharp contrast to well-developed cycloaddition reactions via the palladium-trimethylenemethane (Pd-TMM) intermediate, hetero (3 + 2) cycloadditions of the heteroallyl cations remain rare, largely due to their thermally forbidden nature. To the best of our knowledge, there is no example of asymmetric version leading to enantioenriched heterocycles reported so far. Herein we enabled the first example of catalytic asymmetric (3 + 2) cycloaddition of electrophilic palladium-heteroallyl zwitterion intermediate (Pd-OTMM or Pd-NTMM) with cyclic or acyclic 1,3-dienes via a pathway terminated with C-N or C-O bond formation, delivering the highly substituted or fused pyrrolidine and tetrahydrofuran rings in high yields with excellent regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivity. Engineering the PC-Phos, one of the chiral sulfinamide phosphine (Sadphos) type ligands, by introducing the di-tert-butyl or/and 3,5-difluorophenyl group is a vital component in achieving excellent catalytic reactivity and enantioselectivity.

Pd/GF-Phos-Catalyzed Asymmetric Three-Component Coupling Reaction to Access Chiral Diarylmethyl Alkynes.

Significant attention has been given in the past few years to the selective transformations of N-tosylhydrazones to various useful compounds. However, the development of enantioselective versions poses considerable challenges. Herein we report a Pd-catalyzed enantioselective three-component coupling of N-tosylhydrazone, aryl halide, and terminal alkyne under mild conditions utilizing a novel chiral sulfinamide phosphine ligand (GF-Phos), which provides a facile access to chiral diarylmethyl alkynes, which are useful synthons in organic synthesis as well as exist as the skeleton in many bioactive molecules. A pair of enantiomers of the product could be easily prepared using the same chiral ligand by simply changing the aryl substituents of the N-tosylhydrazone and aryl halide. The salient features of this reaction include the readily available starting materials, general substrate scope, high enantioselectivity, ease of scale-up, mild reaction conditions, and versatile transformations.

Palladium-Catalyzed Asymmetric Tandem Denitrogenative Heck/Tsuji-Trost of Benzotriazoles with 1,3-Dienes.

The asymmetric denitrogenative cycloaddition has emerged as a powerful tool to build chiral aza-heterocyles. However, only one example of asymmetric denitrogenative cycloaddition of benzotriazole with unsaturated hydrocarbons has been explored so far, because the ring-opening of benzotriazole to generate α-imino metal carbenoid species is a thermodynamically unfavorable process. We herein report an efficient asymmetric denitrogenative cycloaddition of benzotriazoles with cyclic and acyclic 1,3-dienes enabled by Pd and chiral sulfonamide phosphine ligand. A variety of substituted hexahydrocarbazoles and indolines were delivered in good yields with high ee values. Interestingly, a pair of enantiomers could be obtained with the use of Xu1 and PC2 with the same absolute configuration. The synthetic utilities of the optically active hexahydrocarbazoles were also showcased.

Palladium/TY-Phos-Catalyzed Asymmetric Intermolecular α-Arylation of Aldehydes with Aryl Bromides.

Despite much progress has been made in the asymmetric α-arylation reactions of cyclic ketones, lactones and lactams, the enantioselective α-arylation of acyclic carbonyl compounds lagged much behind due to the in situ generated Z/E-enolate intermediates leading to opposite enantiomers. Especially, the asymmetric α-arylation of acyclic aldehydes is a long-standing challenge, because of the highest activity among carbonyl compounds leading to various competitive side reactions. Herein we reported an efficient Pd-catalyzed asymmetric intermolecular α-arylation reaction of α-alkyl-α-aryl disubstituted aldehydes with aryl bromides, which provides a rapid access to chiral aldehydes bearing an α-all-carbon quaternary stereocenter in moderate to good yields with good er in most cases. In addition, a pair of enantiomers could be easily prepared with the use of the same ligand by exchanging the aryl groups of aldehyde and aryl bromide.

Design and Synthesis of TY-Phos and Application in Palladium-Catalyzed Enantioselective Fluoroarylation of gem-Difluoroalkenes.

The first example of highly enantioselective fluoroarylation of gem-difluoroalkenes with aryl halides is presented by using a new chiral sulfinamide phosphine (Sadphos) type ligand TY-Phos. N-Me-TY-Phos can be easily synthesized on a gram scale from readily available starting materials in three steps. Salient features of this work including readily available starting materials, good yields, high enantioselectivities as well as broad substrate scope make this approach very practical and attractive. Notably, the asymmetric synthesis of an analogue of a biologically active molecule is also reported.

The Divergent Synthesis of Nitrogen Heterocycles by Rhodium(I)-Catalyzed Intermolecular Cycloadditions of Vinyl Aziridines and Alkynes.

Catalyst-controlled divergent intermolecular cycloadditions of vinylaziridines with alkynes have been developed. By using [Rh(NBD)2]BF4 as the catalyst, a [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction was achieved with broad substrate scope and high stereoselectivity under mild reaction conditions. Moreover, the chirality of vinylaziridines can be completely transferred to the [3 + 2] cycloadducts. When the catalyst was changed to [Rh(η(6)-C10H8) (COD)]SbF6, the alternative [5 + 2] cycloadducts were selectively formed under otherwise identical conditions.

Diastereo- and Enantioselective Copper(I)-Catalyzed Intermolecular [3+2] Cycloaddition of Azomethine Ylides with ß-Trifluoromethyl ß,ß-Disubstituted Enones.

Reported herein is an asymmetric [3+2] cycloaddition reaction of azomethine ylides with ß-trifluoromethyl ß,ß-disubstituted enones, a reaction which is enabled by a Ming-Phos-derived copper(I) catalyst (Ming-Phos=chiral sulfinamide monophosphines, Figure ). This method provides scalable and efficient access to the highly substituted pyrrolidines with a trifluoromethylated, all-carbon quaternary stereocenter in good yields with up to greater than 20:1 d.r. and 98 % ee. The reaction has a broad substrate scope and tolerates a wide range of functional groups.

Regiodivergent Intermolecular [3+2] Cycloadditions of Vinyl Aziridines and Allenes: Stereospecific Synthesis of Chiral Pyrrolidines.

The first rhodium-catalyzed intermolecular [3+2] cycloaddition reaction of vinyl aziridines and allenes for the synthesis of enantioenriched functionalized pyrrolidines was realized. [3+2] cycloaddition with the proximal C=C bond of N-allenamides gave 3-methylene-pyrrolidines in high regio- and diastereoselectivity, whereas, 2-methylene-pyrrolidines were obtained as the major products by the cycloadditions of vinyl aziridines with the distal C=C bond of allenes. Use of readily available starting materials, a broad substrate scope, high selectivity, mild reaction conditions, as well as versatile functionalization of the cycloadducts make this approach very practical and attractive.

Transfer of chirality in the rhodium-catalyzed intramolecular formal hetero-[5 + 2] cycloaddition of vinyl aziridines and alkynes: stereoselective synthesis of fused azepine derivatives.

By taking advantage of vinyl aziridines as a heteroatom-containing five-atom component in rhodium-catalyzed intramolecular formal hetero-[5 + 2] cycloaddition reactions with alkynes, a highly efficient method for the synthesis of fused azepine derivatives at 30 °C was developed. The reaction has broad substrate scope and tolerates a wide range of functional groups. The chirality of vinyl aziridine-alkyne substrates can be completely transferred to the cycloadducts, representing an atom-economic and enantiospecific protocol for the construction of fused 2,5-dihydroazepines for the first time.

Modular Access to the Stereoisomers of Fused Bicyclic Azepines: Rhodium-Catalyzed Intramolecular Stereospecific Hetero-[5+2] Cycloaddition of Vinyl Aziridines and Alkenes.

The first rhodium-catalyzed intramolecular hetero-[5+2] cycloaddition reaction of vinyl aziridines and alkenes was realized, wherein both internal and terminal alkenes were applicable. With this method, a variety of unique substituted chiral fused bicyclic azepines, bearing multiple contiguous stereogenic centers, were facilely accessed in a straightforward, high-yielding, and highly stereoselective manner under mild reaction conditions. Notably, the E/Z geometry of the CC bonds in the vinyl aziridine-alkene substrates impact the cis/trans stereochemistry of the cycloadducts and up to six stereoisomers could be delivered.

Highly site-selective direct C-H bond functionalization of phenols with α-aryl-α-diazoacetates and diazooxindoles via gold catalysis.

An unprecedented direct C-H bond functionalization of unprotected phenols with α-aryl α-diazoacetates and diazooxindoles was developed. A tris(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl) phosphite derived gold complex promoted the highly chemoselective and site-selective C-H bond functionalization of phenols and N-acylanilines with gold-carbene generated from the decomposition of diazo compounds, furnishing the corresponding products in moderate to excellent yields at rt. The salient features of this reaction include readily available starting materials, unprecedented C-H functionalization rather than X-H insertion, good substrate scope, mild conditions, high efficiency, and ease in further transformation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of C-H functionalization of unprotected phenols with diazo compounds.

Asymmetric copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition to quaternary oxindoles.

We report a highly enantioselective Cu(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition via asymmetric desymmetrization of oxindole-based 1,6-heptadiynes, which furnishes quaternary oxindoles bearing a 1,2,3-triazole-containing moiety with 84-98% ee.

Facile large-scale synthesis of monodisperse mesoporous silica nanospheres with tunable pore structure.

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are experiencing rapid development in the biomedical field for imaging and for use in heterogeneous catalysis. Although the synthesis of MSNs with various morphologies and particle sizes has been reported, synthesis of a pore network with monodispersion control below 200 nm is still challenging. We achieved this goal using mild conditions. The reaction occurred at atmospheric pressure with a templating sol-gel technique using cetyltrimethylammonium (CTA(+)) as the templating surfactant and small organic amines (SOAs) as the mineralizing agent. Production of small pore sizes was performed for the first time, using pure and redispersible monodispersed porous nanophases with either stellate (ST) or raspberry-like (RB) channel morphologies. Tosylate (Tos(-)) counterions favored ST and bromide (Br(-)) RB morphologies at ultralow SOA concentrations. Both anions yielded a worm-like (WO) morphology at high SOA concentrations. A three-step formation mechanism based on self-assembly and ion competition at the electrical palisade of micelles is proposed. Facile recovery and redispersion using specific SOAs allowed a high yield production at the kilogram scale. This novel technique has practical applications in industry.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Clivia robusta.

In this study, we reported the complete chloroplast genome sequence of Clivia robusta for the first time. The complete chloroplast genome of C. robusta was 157,130 bp in length, containing a large single-copy region (LSC, 85,430 bp), a small single-copy region (SSC, 18,278 bp), and two inverted repeat regions (IRs, 26,711 bp). The overall GC content was 38.01%. The chloroplast genome contained 128 genes in total, including 86 protein-coding, 34 tRNA, and eight rRNA genes. The phylogenetic tree showed that C. robusta formed a monophyletic clade with other Clivia species.

Copper-catalyzed cyclization reaction: synthesis of trifluoromethylated indolinyl ketones.

A novel, simple, effective and rapid synthetic method to construct the C-2 trifluoromethylated indolinyl ketones via a copper-catalyzed cyclization reaction between N-alkylaniline and ß-(trifluoromethyl)-α,ß-unsaturated enones was developed. The results of the control experiments show that the reaction may involve a radical mechanism by a single-electron transfer process. Moreover, a broad substrate scope and good functional groups, high diastereoselectivities (dr, up to >20 : 1) as well as gram-scale synthesis make this approach highly attractive.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Clivia miniata var. citrina.

The complete chloroplast genome of Clivia miniata var. citrina was assembled and subjected to phylogenetic analysis in this study. The complete chloroplast genome of C. miniata var. citrina was 158,112 bp in length, containing a large single-copy region (LSC, 86,202 bp), a small single-copy region (SSC, 18,334 bp), and two inverted repeat regions (IRs, 26,788 bp). The GC content was 37.97%. A total of 130 genes were annotated, including 86 protein-coding genes, 36 tRNA and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis showed that C. miniata var. citrina was the most related with C. miniata and they formed a monophyletic group that was sister to the clade of Hippeastrum, Leucojum, Narcissus and Lysoris.

Simultaneous construction of axial and planar chirality by gold/TY-Phos-catalyzed asymmetric hydroarylation.

The simultaneous construction of two different chiralities via a simple operation poses considerable challenge. Herein a cationic gold-catalyzed asymmetric hydroarylation of ortho-alkynylaryl ferrocenes derivatives is developed, which enable the simultaneous construction of axial and planar chirality. The here identified TY-Phos derived gold complex is responsible for the high yield, good diastereoselectivity (>20:1 dr), high enantioselectivities (up to 99% ee) and mild conditions. The catalyst system also shows potential application in the synthesis of chiral biaryl compounds. The cause of high enantioselectivity of this hydroarylation is investigated with density functional theory caculation.

Au-Catalyzed Formal Allylation of Diazo(thio)oxindoles: Application to Tandem Asymmetric Synthesis of Quaternary Stereocenters.

We report an efficient Au(I)-catalyzed formal allylation of diazo(thio)oxindoles using allyltrimethylsilane to give 3-allyl (thio)oxindoles, which are difficult to access by using traditional alkylation methods under basic conditions. The approach enables a highly stereoselective synthesis of quaternary (thio)oxindoles via a formal allylation-asymmetric Michael addition sequence. These adducts are versatile synthons for spirocyclic (thio)oxindoles. Initial biological studies reveal that chiral thiooxindoles show promising antiproliferation activity that is better than that of the corresponding oxindoles.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Clivia caulescens.

Clivia caulescens is an evergreen herbaceous flower with high ornamental value. In this study, we report its complete chloroplast genome sequence. The whole chloroplast genome was 158,149 bp in length, with a large single copy region (LSC, 86,250 bp), a small single copy region (SSC, 18,343 bp), and two inverted repeat regions (IRs, 26,778 bp). The overall GC content was 37.91%. There were 128 genes annotated, including 86 protein-coding genes, 34 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. The phylogenetic tree showed that C. caulescens formed a monophyletic clade with C. miniata, C. miniata var. aurea, and C. gardenii.

Alcohol amine-catalyzed CO2 conversion for the synthesis of quinazoline-2,4-(1H,3H)-dione in water.

The conversion of CO2 to high value-added chemicals in water using environment-friendly and cost-effective catalysts is a very significant topic. In this work, a green method for the conversion of CO2 catalyzed by alcohol amines has been developed. Alcohol amines showed considerable activating ability to CO2 in the cyclization with 2-aminobenzonitrile to quinazoline-2,4(1H,3H)-dione in water. Notably, when diethanolamine (DEA) was used as the catalyst, 94% yield of quinazoline-2,4-(1H,3H)-dione could be achieved. A plausible mechanism has been proposed based on the 1H NMR, FT-IR analysis and DFT calculation. The excellent catalytic performance is attributed to the combined effect of both the secondary amine and hydroxyl groups on alcohol amines with the assistance of water in the formation of carbamate. Water plays a bi-functional role of solvent and co-catalyst in this catalytic process. Catalysts can be easily recovered and reused five times without significant loss of activity.