Asymmetric Counteranion-Directed Electrocatalysis for Enantioselective Control of Radical Cation.

The control of enantioselectivity in radical cation reactions presents long-standing challenges, despite a few successful examples. We introduce a novel strategy of asymmetric counteranion-directed electrocatalysis to address enantioselectivity in radical cation chemistry. This concept has been successfully demonstrated in two reactions: an asymmetric dehydrogenative indole-phenol [3 + 2] coupling and an atroposelective C-H/N-H dehydrogenative coupling. These reactions have enabled the synthesis of benzofuroindolines and C-N axially chiral indoles with high yields and excellent enantiomeric excesses. Detailed mechanistic studies confirmed a radical-radical coupling mechanism. Moreover, density functional theory (DFT) calculations supported the indole radical cation as the pivotal intermediate, rather than a neutral indolyl radical, shedding new light on the underlying processes driving these reactions.

Development of an imidazole-based N,N-bidentate ligand for the manganese catalyzed direct coupling of nitriles with alcohols.

3d-Metal catalyzed borrowing hydrogen (BH) reactions represent powerful and environmentally friendly approaches for the direct coupling of alcohols with nitriles to assemble various important branched nitriles. The development of simple and efficient ligands is a crucial issue in this field. In this study, we designed a series of readily available N,N-bidentate ligands that demonstrated good efficiency in the Mn-catalyzed BH reaction of alcohols and nitrile derivatives, yielding the targeted nitriles in moderate to good yields. Remarkably, the mildness and practicality of this protocol were further demonstrated by the successful synthesis of anipamil via a two-cascade borrowing hydrogen procedure.

Natural quinazolinones: From a treasure house to promising anticancer leads.

Despite great advances in the development of modern anticancer drugs, it is still challenging to find safer and more effective ones due to a new spectrum of diseases and emerging drug resistance. Natural quinazolinones exist widely in natural plants, microorganisms and animals and possess a variety of biological activities. Over the past three to four decades, there has been a growing volume of literature concerning the effects of natural quinazolinones and their derivatives upon a variety of cancers. In this paper, 58 natural quinazolinones with anticancer activities were reviewed in term of their anticancer effects, cellular and molecular mechanisms, ability to overcome cancer drug resistance, and structure-activity relationship of anticancer quinazolinone representatives as well. This paper will offer new clues for discovering new and better lead compounds against malignant tumor and cancer drug resistance from natural quinazolinones.

Electrosynthesis of 2-Substituted Benzoxazoles via Intramolecular Shono-Type Oxidative Coupling of Glycine Derivatives.

Herein, an atom-economical and eco-friendly electrochemical oxidation/cyclization of glycine derivatives through intramolecular Shono-type oxidative coupling is disclosed, leading to a variety of 2-substituted benzoxazoles in 51-85% yields. This oxidative cyclization proceeded in transition metal- and oxidant-free conditions and generated H2 as only a byproduct. Additionally, gram-scale reactions and a broad substrate scope demonstrated the synthetic usefulness of this protocol.

Hydrogen evolution-enabled rhodaelectro-catalyzed [4+2] annulations of purines and 7-deazapurines with alkynes.

A rhodium-catalyzed electrochemical regioselective annulation of 6-phenylpurines and 6-phenyl-7-deazapurines with alkynes has been developed. Electricity is used to recycle the active rhodium-based catalyst, promote the evolution of H2 and help in reducing the reaction temperature. This mild and green method enables a broad substrate scope and wide functional group tolerance, providing a new series of polycyclic purinium and 7-deazapurinium salts in high yields. Mechanistic studies show that the five-member rhodium(III) species and purinoisoquinolinium-coordinated rhodium(I) complex are the two key intermediates in this transformation.

Rh-Catalyzed Highly Enantioselective Hydrogenation of Functionalized Olefins with Chiral Ferrocenylphosphine-Spiro Phosphonamidite Ligands.

A highly efficient Rh-catalyzed hydrogenation of functionalized olefins has been realized by a new family of highly rigid chiral ferrocenylphosphine-spiro phosphonamidite ligands. Excellent enantiocontrol (>99% ee in most cases) was achieved with a wide range of α-dehydroamino acid esters and α-enamides. This practicable catalytic system was further applied in the scalable synthesis of highly optically pure key intermediates of cinacalcet and d-phenylalanine.

A deep-learning system predicts glaucoma incidence and progression using retinal photographs.

BackgroundDeep learning has been widely used for glaucoma diagnosis. However, there is no clinically validated algorithm for glaucoma incidence and progression prediction. This study aims to develop a clinically feasible deep-learning system for predicting and stratifying the risk of glaucoma onset and progression based on color fundus photographs (CFPs), with clinical validation of performance in external population cohorts.MethodsWe established data sets of CFPs and visual fields collected from longitudinal cohorts. The mean follow-up duration was 3 to 5 years across the data sets. Artificial intelligence (AI) models were developed to predict future glaucoma incidence and progression based on the CFPs of 17,497 eyes in 9346 patients. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve, sensitivity, and specificity of the AI models were calculated with reference to the labels provided by experienced ophthalmologists. Incidence and progression of glaucoma were determined based on longitudinal CFP images or visual fields, respectively.ResultsThe AI model to predict glaucoma incidence achieved an AUROC of 0.90 (0.81-0.99) in the validation set and demonstrated good generalizability, with AUROCs of 0.89 (0.83-0.95) and 0.88 (0.79-0.97) in external test sets 1 and 2, respectively. The AI model to predict glaucoma progression achieved an AUROC of 0.91 (0.88-0.94) in the validation set, and also demonstrated outstanding predictive performance with AUROCs of 0.87 (0.81-0.92) and 0.88 (0.83-0.94) in external test sets 1 and 2, respectively.ConclusionOur study demonstrates the feasibility of deep-learning algorithms in the early detection and prediction of glaucoma progression.FUNDINGNational Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); the High-level Hospital Construction Project, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University; the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou, China (2021), the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT) of Macau, and FDCT-NSFC.

Iridium/f-diaphos catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of 2-imidazolyl aryl/alkyl ketones.

The iridium/f-diaphos L1, L5 or L12 catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of 2-imidazolyl aryl/alkyl ketones to afford two enantiomers of the desired chiral alcohols with high conversions (up to 99% yield) and moderate to excellent enantioselectivities (61% - >99% ee) was realized for the first time. This protocol could be easily conducted on a gram-scale with a TON of 9700.

Enantioselective synthesis of functionalized 1,4-dihydropyrazolo-[4',3':5,6]pyrano[2,3-b]quinolines through ferrocenyl-phosphine-catalyzed annulation of modified MBH carbonates and pyrazolones.

An enantioselective synthesis of highly functionalized 1,4-dihydropyrazolo[4',3':5,6]pyrano[2,3-b]quinolines from modified MBH carbonates and pyrazolones via a chiral phosphine-mediated alkylation/annulation sequence has been realized. The chiral dihydropyrano[2,3-c]pyrazoles bearing bio-active condensed heterocycles were facilely formed in good chemical yields and with high to excellent enantioselectivity by utilizing low catalyst loading.

Correction: Enantioselective synthesis of functionalized 1,4-dihydropyrazolo-[4',3':5,6]pyrano[2,3-b]quinolines through ferrocenyl-phosphine-catalyzed annulation of modified MBH carbonates and pyrazolones.

Correction for 'Enantioselective synthesis of functionalized 1,4-dihydropyrazolo-[4',3':5,6]pyrano[2,3-b]quinolines through ferrocenyl-phosphine-catalyzed annulation of modified MBH carbonates and pyrazolones' by Xiao Xiao et al., Chem. Commun., 2021, DOI: .

Ruthenium-Catalyzed Electrochemical Synthesis of Indolines through Dehydrogenative [3 + 2] Annulation with H2 Evolution.

A dehydrogenative [3 + 2] annulation reaction of aniline derivatives and alkenes has been developed via the ruthenium-electron catalytic systems for the synthesis of versatile indolines. Electricity is used as a sustainable oxidant to regenerate the active Ru(II) catalyst and promote H2 evolution. This protocol is ecofriendly and easy to handle as it uses a simple undivided cell in mild conditions without the employment of metal oxidants.

Syntheses of N-Alkyl 2-Arylindoles from Saturated Ketones and 2-Arylethynylanilines via Cu-Catalyzed Sequential Dehydrogenation/Aza-Michael Addition/Annulation Cascade.

We describe here a Cu-catalyzed and 4-OH-TEMPO-mediated sequential dehydrogenation/aza-Michael addition/annulation cascade reaction for the construction of N-alkyl 2-arylindoles from facilely available saturated ketones and 2-arylethynylanilines. This reaction shows high regioselectivity and tolerates a variety of functional groups. Moreover, 3-alkyl-substituted indoles can also be achieved when using 2-alkylethynylanilines as starting materials.

Highly Enantioselective Hydrogenation of Non-ortho-Substituted 2-Pyridyl Aryl Ketones via Iridium-f-Diaphos Catalysis.

This work disclosed a highly enantioselective hydrogenation of non-ortho-substituted 2-pyridyl aryl ketones via Ir/f-diaphos catalysis. This catalytic system allows for full control over the configuration of the stereocenter, affording two enantiomers of the desired products with extremely high enantioselectivity (up to >99% ee in most cases) and excellent reactivity (TON of up to 19600, TOF of 1633 h-1) under mild conditions. Density functional theory calculations and control experiments revealed that the relay hydrogen bonding among the solvent isopropanol, substrate, and ligand is crucial for high ee's.

Highly Enantioselective Synthesis of Chiral Benzhydrols via Manganese Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Unsymmetrical Benzophenones Using an Imidazole-Based Chiral PNN Tridentate Ligand.

A series of Mn(I) catalysts containing imidazole-based chiral PNN tridentate ligands with controllable "side arm" groups have been established, enabling the asymmetrical hydrogenation of unsymmetrical benzophenones with outstanding activity (up to 13 000 TON) and excellent enantioselectivity (up to >99% ee). This protocol uses K2CO3 as an industrially desirable base and features a wide substrate scope and functional group tolerance. Moreover, the imine group in the catalyst is crucial for accessing high activities and good enantioselectivities.

B(C6F5)3-catalyzed Markovnikov addition of indoles to aryl alkynes: an approach toward bis(indolyl)alkanes.

The first example of the metal- and solvent-free B(C6F5)3-catalyzed Markovnikov addition of indoles to aryl alkynes was disclosed. Both N-H and N-protected indoles were tolerated, leading to a wide spectrum of versatile bis(indolyl)alkanes in moderate to good yields with high regioselectivities.

Development of Ferrocene-Based Diamine-Phosphine-Sulfonamide Ligands for Iridium-Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Ketones.

A series of air-stable, easily accessible tridentate ferrocene-based diamine-phosphine sulfonamide (f-diaphos) ligands were successfully developed for iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones. The f-diaphos ligands exhibited excellent enantioselectivity and superb reactivity in Ir-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones (for arylalkyl ketones, ( S)-selectivity, up to 99.4% ee, and 100 000 TON; for diaryl ketones, ( R)-selectivity, up to 98.2% ee, and 10 000 TON). This protocol could be easily conducted on gram scale, thereby providing a chance to various drugs.

B(C6F5)3-Catalyzed Asymmetric Reductive Amination of Ketones with Ammonia Borane.

The first example of metal-free B(C6F5)3-catalyzed asymmetric reduction amination of ketones with chiral α-methylbenzylamine (α-MBA) using ammonia borane as the reductant is reported. This one-pot method has a broad substrate scope and provides various chiral amines in 81-95% yield with 80-99% de. This protocol was further applied in the total synthesis of cinacalcet.

Metal-Oxidant-Free Cobalt-Catalyzed C(sp2)-H Carbonylation of ortho-Arylanilines: An Approach toward Free ( NH)-Phenanthridinones.

A traceless directing group assisted Co-catalyzed C(sp2)-H carbonylation of ortho-arylanilines for the synthesis of free ( NH)-phenanthridinones in metal-based-oxidant-free fashion was accomplished. This protocol employs diisopropyl azodicarboxylate as the CO source and oxygen as the sole oxidant, and provides good yields with various functional tolerance. The methodology has been applied for the total synthesis of PARP inhibitor PJ-34. Furthermore, the kinetic isotopic effect experiments reveal the C-H bond cleavage probably occurred in the rate-determining step.

The cinchona alkaloid squaramide catalyzed asymmetric Pictet-Spengler reaction and related theoretical studies.

The asymmetric Pictet-Spengler reaction between tryptamine derivatives and aldehydes has been developed with a cinchona alkaloid squaramide as the catalyst, affording the corresponding tetrahedron-ß-carbolines in good to excellent yields and ee values. A rational mechanistic pathway has also been proposed based on DFT calculations.

Phosphine-catalyzed [3 + 2] annulation reaction: highly regio- and diastereoselective synthesis of 2-azaspiro[4.4]nonene-1,3-diones.

A novel phosphine-catalyzed [3 + 2] annulation of γ-substituted allenoates with succinimides was developed, which was successfully applied to the synthesis of 2-azaspiro[4.4]nonene-1,3-dione derivatives. The reaction afforded the desired products in moderate to high yields (up to 96%) with excellent regioselectivities and diastereoselectivities (up to >99 : 1 dr). A plausible reaction mechanism has also been proposed based on previous literature.