Organocatalytic diastereo- and atroposelective construction of N-N axially chiral pyrroles and indoles.

The construction of N-N axially chiral motifs is an important research topic, owing to their wide occurrence in natural products, pharmaceuticals and chiral ligands. One efficient method is the atroposelective dihydropyrimidin-4-one formation. We present herein a direct catalytic synthesis of N-N atropisomers with simultaneous creation of contiguous axial and central chirality by oxidative NHC (N-heterocyclic carbenes) catalyzed (3 + 3) cycloaddition. Using our method, we are able to synthesize structurally diverse N-N axially chiral pyrroles and indoles with vicinal central chirality or bearing a 2,3-dihydropyrimidin-4-one moiety in moderate to good yields and excellent enantioselectivities. Further synthetic transformations of the obtained axially chiral pyrroles and indoles derivative products are demonstrated. The reaction mechanism and the origin of enantioselectivity are understood through DFT calculations.

Kinetic Resolution of Acyclic Tertiary Propargylic Alcohols by NHC-Catalyzed Enantioselective Acylation.

We report herein an efficient NHC-catalyzed kinetic resolution of acyclic tertiary propargylic alcohols that provides them in high to excellent enantioselectivity. This is the first example of kinetic resolution realized by enantioselective acylation. The recovered enantioenriched alcohols can be facilely converted into other valuable compounds such as densely functionalized tertiary alcohols and carbmates in high yields and excellent stereopurity. Density functional theory calculations were performed to determine the reaction mechanism and to understand the origin of enantiodiscrimination.

Triggering Pt Active Sites in Basal Plane of Van der Waals PtTe2 Materials by Amorphization Engineering for Hydrogen Evolution.

Exposing active sites and optimizing their binding strength to reaction intermediates are two essential strategies to significantly improve the catalytic performance of 2D materials. However, pursuing an efficient way to achieve these goals simultaneously remains a considerable challenge. Here, using 2D PtTe2 van der Waals material with a well-defined crystal structure and atomically thin thickness as a model catalyst, it is observed that a moderate calcination strategy can promote the structural transformation of 2D crystal PtTe2 nanosheets (c-PtTe2 NSs) into oxygen-doped 2D amorphous PtTe2 NSs (a-PtTe2 NSs). The experimental and theoretical investigations cooperatively reveal that oxygen dopants can break the inherent Pt-Te covalent bond in c-PtTe2 NSs, thereby triggering the reconfiguration of interlayer Pt atoms and exposing them thoroughly. Meanwhile, the structural transformation can effectively tailor the electronic properties (e.g., the density of state near the Fermi level, d-band center, and conductivity) of Pt active sites via the hybridization of Pt 5d orbitals and O 2p orbitals. As a result, a-PtTe2 NSs with large amounts of exposed Pt active sites and optimized binding strength to hydrogen intermediates exhibit excellent activity and stability in hydrogen evolution reaction.

Enantioselective Cascade Annulation of α-Amino-ynones and Enals Enabled by Gold and Oxidative NHC Relay Catalysis.

We report herein an unprecedented gold and oxidative NHC relay catalysis that enables highly enantioselective cascade annulation between readily available α-amino-ynones with enals. This method utilizes the in situ-generated pyrrolin-4-ones as a novel and versatile synthon, which engage with α,ß-unsaturated acylazolium intermediates generated from enals by oxidative NHC catalysis to produce pyrrole-fused lactones in high yield and excellent enantioselectivity. Synthetic utility of the lactone products is also demonstrated by facile conversion to densely functionalized pyrroles and pyrrolin-4-ones in high yields with excellent stereopurity.

Recent Advances in Chemical Biology of Mitochondria Targeting.

Mitochondria are vital subcellular organelles that generate most cellular chemical energy, regulate cell metabolism and maintain cell function. Mitochondrial dysfunction is directly linked to numerous diseases including neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes, thyroid squamous disease, cancer and septicemia. Thus, the design of specific mitochondria-targeting molecules and the realization of real-time acquisition of mitochondrial activity are powerful tools in the study and treatment of mitochondria dysfunction in related diseases. Recent advances in mitochondria-targeting agents have led to several important mitochondria chemical probes that offer the opportunity for selective targeting molecules, novel biological applications and therapeutic strategies. This review details the structural and physiological functional characteristics of mitochondria, and comprehensively summarizes and classifies mitochondria-targeting agents. In addition, their pros and cons and their related chemical biological applications are discussed. Finally, the potential biomedical applications of these agents are briefly prospected.

Afterglow Carbon Dots: From Fundamentals to Applications.

The ability of carbon dots (CDs) to emit afterglow emission in addition to fluorescence in response to UV-to-visible excitation allows them to be a new class of luminescent materials. When compared with traditional organic or inorganic afterglow materials, CDs have a set of advantages, including small size, ease of synthesis, and absence of highly toxic metal ions. In addition, high dependence of their afterglow color output on temperature, excitation wavelength, and aggregation degrees adds remarkable flexibility in the creation of multimode luminescence of CDs without the need for changing their intrinsic attributes. These characteristics make CDs particularly attractive in the fields of sensing, anticounterfeiting, and data encryption. In this review, we first describe the general attributes of afterglow CDs and their fundamental afterglow mechanism. We then highlight recent strategic advances in the generation or activation of the afterglow luminescence of CDs. Considerable emphasis is placed on the summarization of their emergent afterglow properties in response to external stimulation. We further highlight the emerging applications of afterglow CDs on the basis of their unique optical features and present the key challenges needed to be addressed before the realization of their full practical utility.

Isothiourea-Catalyzed Atroposelective N-Acylation of Sulfonamides.

We report herein an atroposelective N-acylation of sulfonamides using a commercially available isothiourea catalyst, (S)-HBTM, with a simple procedure. The N-sulfonyl anilide products can be obtained in good to high enantiopurity, which represents a new axially chiral scaffold. The application of the product as a chiral iodine catalyst is also demonstrated for the asymmetric α-oxytosylation of propiophenone.

Polydatin protects SH-SY5Y in models of Parkinson's disease by promoting Atg5-mediated but parkin-independent autophagy.

Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most common chronic neurodegenerative disorder, broadly remains incurable. Both genetic susceptibility and exposure to deleterious environmental stimuli contribute to dopaminergic neuron degeneration in the substantia nigra. Hence, reagents that can ameliorate the phenotypes rendered by genetic or environmental factors should be considered in PD therapy. In this study, we found that polydatin (Pol), a natural compound extracted from grapes and red wines, significantly attenuated rotenone- (Rot) or Parkin deficiency-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death in SH-SY5Y, a human dopaminergic neuronal cell line. We showed that Pol significantly attenuated the Rot-induced decrease in cell viability, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and Sirt 1 expression and increase in cell death, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and DJ1 expression. Rot resulted in a decrease in mTOR/Ulk-involved autophagy and an increase in PGC1ß/mfn2-involved mitochondrial fusion, which was inhibited by Pol. We further demonstrated that the protective effects of Pol are partially blocked when autophagy-related gene 5 (Atg5) is genetically inactivated, suggesting that Pol-mediated neuroprotection requires Atg5. Moreover, Pol rescued Parkin knockdown-induced oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, autophagy impairment, and mitochondrial fusion enhancement. Interestingly, Pol treatment could also rescue the mitochondrial morphological abnormality and motorial dysfunction of a Drosophila PD model induced by Parkin deficiency. Thus, Pol could represent a useful therapeutic strategy as a disease-modifier in PD by decreasing oxidative stress and regulating autophagic processes and mitochondrial fusion.

Diastereo- and Atroposelective Synthesis of Bridged Biaryls Bearing an Eight-Membered Lactone through an Organocatalytic Cascade.

We present herein an unprecedented stereoselective synthesis of bridged biaryls with defined axial and central chirality from readily available starting materials. This N-heterocyclic carbene-catalyzed method proceeds through propargylic substitution of azolium enolates followed by two-directional cyclization, as supported by DFT calculation. A range of benzofuran/indole-derived bridged biaryls bearing an eight-membered lactone are accessed with uniformly high stereoselectivity (>98:2 dr, mostly >98% ee).

NHC-Catalyzed Atroposelective Acylation of Phenols: Access to Enantiopure NOBIN Analogs by Desymmetrization.

Herein we present a highly efficient N-heterocyclic-carbene (NHC)-catalyzed atroposelective acylation of amino bisphenols to provide access to a wide range of 1,1'-biaryl-2,2'-amino alcohols (NOBIN analogs) in high yield and with uniformly excellent enantioselectivity. This catalytic system is shown to proceed through a combination of desymmetrization and secondary kinetic resolution to produce the axially chiral products in excellent enantioselectivity.

Practical access to axially chiral sulfonamides and biaryl amino phenols via organocatalytic atroposelective N-alkylation.

The importance of axial chirality in enantioselective synthesis has been widely recognized for decades. The practical access to certain structures such as biaryl amino phenols known as NOBINs in enantiopure form, however, still remains a challenge. In drug delivery, the incorporation of axially chiral molecules in systematic screening has also received a great deal of interest in recent years, which calls for innovation and practical synthesis of structurally different axially chiral entities. Herein we present an operationally simple catalytic N-alkylation of sulfonamides using commercially available chiral amine catalysts to deliver two important classes of axially chiral compounds: structurally diverse NOBIN analogs as well as axially chiral N-aryl sulfonamides in excellent enantiopurity. Structurally related chiral sulfonamide has shown great potential in drug molecules but enantioselective synthesis of them has never been accomplished before. The practical catalytic procedures of our methods also bode well for their wide application in enantioselective synthesis.

Transition-Metal-Free Decarboxylative Propargylic Substitution/Cyclization with either Azolium Enolates or Acyl Anions.

Presented herein is an unprecedented transition-metal-free propargylic substitution reaction with either azolium enolates or acyl anions, which are generated from aldehydes under N-heterocyclic carbene catalysis. This new catalytic activation operates on readily available cyclic propargylic carbamates through decarboxylation, and generates reactive allene intermediates that can undergo divergent cyclization pathways to deliver skeletally diverse polycyclic compounds with high levels of efficiency and excellent enantioselectivities.

Highly Regio- and Stereodivergent Access to 1,2-Amino Alcohols or 1,4-Fluoro Alcohols by NHC-Catalyzed Ring Opening of Epoxy enals.

Described is an unprecedented NHC-catalyzed (NHC=N-heterocyclic carbene), stereoselective ring opening of epoxy and cyclopropyl enals to deliver valuable compounds bearing multiple stereocenters. A straightforward three-step procedure involving two catalytic enantioselective transformations has been developed and leads to a regio- and stereodivergent synthesis of either 1,2-amino alcohols/diamines or 1,4-fluoro alcohols with excellent diastereo- and enantiopurity.

Access to Enantiopure Triarylmethanes and 1,1-Diarylalkanes by NHC-Catalyzed Acylative Desymmetrization.

We present herein an unprecedented, efficient and enantioselective synthesis of triarylmethanes and 1,1-diarylalkanes through N-heterocyclic carbene-catalyzed acylative desymmetrization of bisphenols. This method utilizes readily available substrates, reagents and a simple procedure to deliver the valuable products in excellent enantiopurity. DFT calculations reveal that the selectivity is governed by the C-C bond cleavage step of the tetrahedral intermediate leading to the ester product. A transition state model featuring a combination of intramolecular hydrogen bond and steric effect is developed to explain the enantioselectivity.

Kinetic resolution of 1,1'-biaryl-2,2'-diols and amino alcohols through NHC-catalyzed atroposelective acylation.

We present here a highly efficient NHC-catalyzed kinetic resolution of a wide range of 1,1'-biaryl-2,2'-diols and amino alcohols to provide them in uniformly ≥99% ee. This represents the first highly enantioselective catalytic acylation of axially chiral alcohols. The aldehyde backbone that is incorporated into the chiral acyl azolium intermediate was found to have a significant effect on the enantioselectivity of the process.

Photoinduced chlorine atom-transfer cyclization/photohydrolysis of 3-acyl-2-chloro-N-(ω-phenylalkynyl)pyrroles: a one-pot synthesis of benzoyl-substituted fused pyrroles.

A one-pot synthesis of benzoyl-substituted fused pyrroles or indoles in moderate to high yields has been achieved by the photocyclization/photohydrolysis reactions of N-(ω-phenylalkynyl)-2-chloropyrrole-3-carbaldehydes or 3-acyl-N-(ω-phenylbutynyl)-2-haloindoles in wet acetone. The formation of all these products could be inferred by a two-step reactions, namely, photoinduced chlorine atom-transfer cyclization and subsequent photohydrolysis.

One-pot synthesis of benzo[f]quinolin-3-ones and benzo[a]phenanthridein-5-ones by the photoanuulation of 6-chloropyridin-2-ones and 3-chloroisoquinolin-1-ones to phenylacetylene.

The one-pot synthesis of benzo[f]quinolin-3-ones and benzo[a]phenanthridein-5-ones was achieved by the inter- and intramolecular photoannulation of 6-chloropyridin-2-ones and 3-chloroisoquinolin-1-ones with phenylacetylene or tethered phenylacetylene. The reactions were proceeded by photoaddition of 6-chloropyridin-2-ones and 3-chloroisoquinolin-1-ones to phenylacetylene to give the chlorine-substituted stilbenoids, and then 6π electrocyclization of the stilbenoids and oxidation aromatization to afford the polycyclic products.

Photoinduced cyclization of 3-acyl-2-halo-1-[(ω-phenylethynyl)alkyl]indoles to azaheterocyclo[1,2,3-lm]-fused benzo[c]carbazoles.

A one-pot synthesis of azaheterocyclo[1,2,3-lm]-fused benzo[c]carbazoles (2 and 3) has been developed by photocyclization of 3-acyl-2-halo-1-[(ω-phenylethynyl)alkyl] indoles (1) in good to excellent yields. All products are formed from 1 via two sequential photocyclization reactions. Two products, 9-chloro-7,8-dihydro-6H-benzo[c]pyrido[1,2,3-lm]carbazole (2a-h) and 7,8-dihydro-6H-benzo[c]pyrido[1,2,3-lm]carbazole (3a-h), are produced in the photocyclization of 2-halo-1-[(ω-phenylethynyl)alkyl]indole-3-carbaldehydes (1a-h). In contrast, only products 2a-h are produced in the photocyclization of 3-acetyl-2-chloro-1-[(ω-phenylethynyl)alkyl]indole-3-carbaldehydes (1o-t). The 9-H in 3a-h (n = 2) does originate from the formyl group in 1a-h via 1,5-hydrogen shift. The structures of three new products, 9-bromo-7,8-dihydro-6H-benzo[c]pyrido[1,2,3-lm]carbazole (2b), 9-chloro-10-methyl-7,8-dihydro-6H-benzo[c]pyrido[1,2,3-lm]carbazole (3h) and 12-chloro-7,8-dihydro-6H-benzo[c]pyrido[1,2,3-lm]carbazole (2w), have been corroborated by single-crystal X-ray structural analyses.

CuI-catalyzed photochemical or thermal reactions of 3-(2-azidobenzylidene)lactams. Application to the synthesis of fused indoles.

Photochemical or thermal reactions of 3-(2-azidobenzylidene)-lactams afforded fused indoles such as indolo[3,2-c]quinolin-6-ones, pyrido[4,3-b]indol-1-ones and other similar compounds in moderate to high yields via cyclization-ring expansion reactions. The photolytic process was much more facile than the thermal process and could be further improved by addition of CuI.