Well-Defined Phosphine-Free Manganese(II)-Complex-Catalyzed Synthesis of Quinolines, Pyrroles, and Pyridines.

Herein, we report a simple, phosphine-free, and inexpensive catalytic system based on a manganese(II) complex for synthesizing different important N-heterocycles such as quinolines, pyrroles, and pyridines from amino alcohols and ketones. Several control experiments, kinetic studies, and DFT calculations were carried out to support the plausible reaction mechanism. We also detected two potential intermediates in the catalytic cycle using ESI-MS analysis. Based on these studies, a metal-ligand cooperative mechanism was proposed.

Regio-Selective C3- and N-Alkylation of Indolines in Water under Air Using Alcohols.

We disclosed a regio-selective C-H and N-H bond functionalization of indolines using alcohols in water via tandem dehydrogenation of N-heterocycles and alcohols. A diverse range of N- and C3-alkylated indolines/indoles were accessed utilizing a new cooperative iridium catalyst. The practical applicability of this methodology was demonstrated by the preparative-scale synthesis and synthesis of a psychoactive drug, N,N-dimethyltryptamine. A catalytic cycle is proposed based on several kinetic experiments, series of control experiments and density functional theory calculations.

Reductive Alkylation of Azides and Nitroarenes with Alcohols: A Selective Route to Mono- and Dialkylated Amines.

Herein, we demonstrated an efficient protocol for reductive alkylation of azides/nitro compounds via a borrowing hydrogen (BH) method. By following this protocol, selective mono- and dialkylated amines were obtained under mild and solvent-free conditions. A series of control experiments and deuterium-labeling experiments were performed to understand this catalytic process. Mechanistic studies suggested that the Ir(III)-H was the active intermediate in this reaction. KIE study revealed that the breaking of the C-H bond of alcohol might be the rate-limiting step. Notably, this solvent-free strategy disclosed a high TON of around 5600. Based on kinetic studies and control experiments, a metal-ligand cooperative mechanism was proposed.

Tandem transformations and multicomponent reactions utilizing alcohols following dehydrogenation strategy.

The construction of new C-C, C-N and C-O bonds by replacing hazardous and waste generating chemicals with alcohols as the greener and sustainable reagents is one of the emerging areas of research. In consequence, the borrowing hydrogen and acceptorless dehydrogenative coupling principles have received significant momentum to synthesize various alkylated molecules and N-heterocycles. In the tandem transformations and multi-component reactions, simple substrates are directly converted to new functionalities or complex molecular systems using a single reaction set-up. In this review, the progress of tandem transformation of nitro, nitrile and azide functionalities as well as multi-component reactions utilizing alcohols is summarised. These transformations lead to the atom-economical synthesis of a wide range of alkylated imines, amines, amides and N-heterocycles such as pyrrole, pyridine, pyrimidine, quinoxaline, etc.

Cooperative ruthenium complex catalyzed multicomponent synthesis of pyrimidines.

A new set of 2-(2-benzimidazolyl) pyridine ligand based air and moisture stable ruthenium complexes were synthesized and characterized. The catalytic behaviors of these complexes were evaluated towards the multicomponent synthesis of highly substituted pyrimidines directly from various amidines, primary alcohols, and secondary alcohols. Among all the metal complexes, 2-hydroxypyridine and benzimidazole fragments containing complex A showed the best reactivity in this reaction. In addition, it was observed that the N-H proton of benzimidazole and the hydroxyl group of pyridine played a critical role in enhancing catalytic activity. Several control experiments and mechanistic studies were carried out to understand this multicomponent synthesis of pyrimidines using complex A.

Utilization of MeOH as a C1 Building Block in Tandem Three-Component Coupling Reaction.

Ru(II) catalyzed tandem synthesis of α-branched methylated ketones via multicomponent reactions following the hydrogen borrowing process is described. This nonphosphine-based air and moisture stable catalyst efficiently produced various methylated ketones using methanol as a methylating agent. This system was found to be highly effective in three-component coupling between methanol, primary alcohols, and methyl ketones. A proposed catalytic cycle for the α-methylation is supported by DFT calculations as well as kinetic experiments.

Mixed valence copper-sulfur clusters of highest nuclearity: a Cu8 wheel and a Cu16 nanoball.

Fully spin delocalized mixed valence copper-sulfur clusters, 1 and 2, supported by µ4-sulfido and NSthiol donor ligands are synthesized and characterized. Wheel shaped 1 consists of Cu2S2 units. The unprecedented nanoball 2 can be described as S@Cu4(tetrahedron)@O6(octahedron)@Cu12S12(cage) consisting of both Cu2S2 and (µ4-S)Cu4 units. The Cu2S2 and (µ4-S)Cu4 units resemble biological CuA and CuZ sites respectively.

Bifunctional Ru(ii) complex catalysed carbon-carbon bond formation: an eco-friendly hydrogen borrowing strategy.

The atom economical borrowing hydrogen methodology enables the use of alcohols as alkylating agents for selective C-C bond formation. A bifunctional 2-(2-pyridyl-2-ol)-1,10-phenanthroline (phenpy-OH) based Ru(ii) complex (2) was found to be a highly efficient catalyst for the one-pot ß-alkylation of secondary alcohols with primary alcohols and double alkylation of cyclopentanol with different primary alcohols. Exploiting the metal-ligand cooperativity in complex 2, several aromatic, aliphatic and heteroatom substituted alcohols were selectively cross-coupled in high yields using significantly low catalyst loading (0.1 mol%). An outer-sphere mechanism is proposed for this system as exogenous PPh3 has no significant effect on the rate of the reaction. Notably, this is a rare one-pot strategy for ß-alkylation of secondary alcohols using a bifunctional Ru(ii)-complex. Moreover, this atom-economical methodology displayed the highest cumulative turn over frequency (TOF) among all the reported transition metal complexes in cross coupling of alcohols.

Electron transfer mechanism of catalytic superoxide dismutation via Cu(ii/i) complexes: evidence of cupric-superoxo/-hydroperoxo species.

To understand the electron transfer mechanisms (outer versus inner sphere) of catalytic superoxide dismutation via a Cu(ii/i) redox couple such as occur in the enzyme copper-zinc superoxide dismutase, the Cu(ii/i) complexes [(L1)2Cu](ClO4)2·CH3CN, (1·CH3CN) and [(L1)2Cu](ClO4), (2) supported by a bis-N2Sthioether ligand, 2-pyridyl-N-(2'-methylthiophenyl)methyleneimine (L1) have been synthesized and structurally characterised. Both 1 and 2 display the same cyclic voltammogram (CV) featuring a quasireversible response at E1/2 = +0.33 V vs. SCE that falls in the SOD potential window of -0.04 V to +0.99 V. These complexes catalytically dismutate superoxide radicals at 298 K in aqueous medium (the IC50 for 1 is 2.15 µM). Electronic absorption spectra (233 K and 298 K), FTIR, ESI mass spectra, CV (233 K and 298 K) and DFT calculations collectively indicate formation of [(L1)2Cu(O2˙(-))](+), [(L1)2Cu(O2(2-))] and [(L1)2Cu(OOH(-))](+) species and help to elucidate the electron transfer mechanism for the SOD function of 1 and 2. Once O2˙(-) binds to Cu(II) (evident at 233 K), the first step of the catalytic cycle (Cu(II) + O2˙(-)→ Cu(I) + O2) does not follow but the second step (Cu(I) + O2˙(-) + 2H(+)→ H2O2 + Cu(II)) does follow. Therefore, the catalytic disproportionation of superoxide radicals via1 and 2 at 298 K indicates that the first and second steps of the catalytic cycle proceed through outer and inner sphere electron transfer mechanisms, respectively. Feasibility of the first step to occur in pure aprotic solvent (where 18-crown-6-ether is used to solubilise KO2) was tested and also supports the same notion of the electron transfer mechanisms as stated above.

Copper coordinated ligand thioether-S and NO2(-) oxidation: relevance to the CuM site of hydroxylases.

In order to gain insight into the coordination site and oxidative activity of the CuM site of hydroxylases such as peptidylglycine α-hydroxylating monooxygenase (PHM), dopamine ß-monooxygenase (DßM), and tyramine ß-monooxygenase (TßM), we have synthesized, characterized and studied the oxidation chemistry of copper complexes chelated by tridentate N2Sthioether, N2Osulfoxide or N2Osulfone donor sets. The ligands are those of N-2-methylthiophenyl-2'-pyridinecarboxamide (HL1), and the oxidized variants, N-2-methylsulfenatophenyl-2'-pyridinecarboxamide (HL1(SO)), and N-2-methylsulfinatophenyl-2'-pyridinecarboxamide (HL1(SO2)). Our studies afforded the complexes [(L1)Cu(II)(H2O)](ClO4)·H2O (1·H2O), {[(L1(SO))Cu(II)(CH3CN)](ClO4)}n (2), [(L1)Cu(II)(ONO)] (3), [(L1(SO))Cu(II)(ONO)]n (4), [(L1)Cu(II)(NO3)]n (5), [(L1(SO))Cu(II)(NO3)]n (6) and [(L1(SO2))Cu(II)(NO3)] (7). Complexes 1 and 3 were described in a previous publication (Inorg. Chem., 2013, 52, 11084). The X-ray crystal structures revealed either distorted octahedral (in 2, 4-6) or square-pyramidal (in 1, 3) coordination geometry around Cu(II) ions of the complexes. In the presence of H2O2, conversion of 1→2, 3-5→6 and 6→7 occurs quantitatively via oxidation of thioether-S and/or Cu(ii) coordinated NO2(-) ions. Thioether-S oxidation of L1 also occurs when [L1](-) is reacted with [Cu(I)(CH3CN)4](ClO4) in DMF under O2, albeit low in yield (20%). Oxidations of thioether-S and NO2(-) were monitored by UV-Vis spectroscopy. Recovery of the sulfur oxidized ligands from their metal complexes allowed for their characterization by elemental analysis, (1)H NMR, FTIR and mass spectrometry.

Ligand centered radical pathway in catechol oxidase activity with a trinuclear zinc-based model: synthesis, structural characterization and luminescence properties.

A new trinuclear zinc(II) complex, [Zn3(L)(NCS)2](NO3)2·CH3OH·H2O (1), of a (N,O)-donor compartmental Schiff base ligand (H2L=N,N'-bis(3-methoxysalicylidene)-1,3-diamino-2-propanol), has been synthesized in crystalline phase. The zinc(II) complex has been characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction study (PXRD), (1)H NMR, EI mass spectrometry and thermogravimetric analysis. PXRD revealed that 1 crystallizes in P-1 space group with a=9.218 Å, b=10.849 Å, c=18.339 Å, with unit cell volume is 2179.713(Å)(3). Fluorescence spectra in methanolic solution reflect that intensity of emission for 1 is much higher compared to H2L and both the compounds exhibit good fluorescence properties. The complex 1 exhibits significant catalytic activities of biological relevance, viz. catechol oxidase. In methanol, it efficiently catalyzes the oxidation of 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol (3,5-DTBC) to corresponding quinone via formation of a dinuclear species as [Zn2(L)(3,5-DTBC)]. Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) experiment suggests generation of radicals in the presence of 3,5-DTBC and it may be proposed that the radical pathway is probably responsible for conversion of 3,5-DTBC to 3,5-DTBQ promoted by complex of redox-innocent Zn(II) ion.

Binary, Ternary, and Quarternary Complexes of Ruthenium(II) Involving the Flexidentate ONNS Donor Mono(4-(4-tolyl)thiosemicarbazone) of 2,6-Diacetylpyridine (L(2)H). First Report on Ruthenium Complexes of a Mono(thiosemicarbazone) of a Diketone: Crystal Structure of [Ru(L(2))(PPh(3))(2)]ClO(4).

A series of Ru(II) complexes of the ONNS donor ligand mono(4-(4-tolyl)thiosemicarbazone) of 2,6-diacetylpyridine (L(2)H) synthesized by using three different ruthenium-containing starting materials RuCl(3).xH(2)O, Ru(PPh(3))(3)Cl(2), and [Ru(NH(3))(5)Cl]Cl(2) are reported. Chemical and electrochemical studies of the complexes [Ru(L(2))(PPh(3))(2)]ClO(4) (1), [Ru(L(2))(PPh(3))(2)]Cl (2), [Ru(L(2))(PPh(3))]ClO(4).EtOH (3), [Ru(L(2))(PPh(3))(bpy)]ClO(4) (4), [Ru(L(2))(PPh(3))(ophen)]ClO(4) (5), [Ru(L(2))(2)] (6), and [Ru(L(2))(L(2)H)]Cl (7) have been carried out. The structure of the compound [Ru(L(2))(PPh(3))(2)]ClO(4) (1) has been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. The crystals are triclinic, space group P&onemacr; with a = 12.716(1) Å, b = 13.213(1) Å, c = 15.951(1) Å, alpha = 87.66(1) degrees, beta = 73.81(1) degrees, gamma = 70.93(1) degrees, and Z = 2, where the deprotonated ligand mono(4-(4-tolyl)thiosemicarbazone) of 2,6-diacetylpyridine (L(2)) is chelated to the Ru(II) center through the oxygen of the carbonyl group, pyridine ring nitrogen, imine nitrogen, and the thiolate sulfur atoms. Strong coordination of the carbonyl group suggested from its IR spectral characteristics has been confirmed from the appreciable shortening of the Ru-O bond and lengthening of the C=O bond in the structure of 1.