Heteroatom-participated lignin cleavage to functionalized aromatics.

Lignin, the most abundant aromatic polymer in nature, enables sustainable supply of miscellaneous aromatics as green fuels and chemicals. Obtaining the value-added aromatics from lignin, though subjected to enormous research efforts, mainly relies on depolymerization induced by activated hydrogen species or oxygen species, delivering hydrocarbons and oxygenates. The future bio-refinery demands a broad spectrum of fine chemicals, especially those containing elements other than C, H and O. Heteroatom-containing compounds have emerged as powerful reagents to participate in the bond cleavage in lignin; meanwhile, the obtained heteroatom-containing aromatics, which could be used as dye precursors, pharmaceutical precursors, hydrogen storage materials, etc., extend the application of lignin-derived products. This tutorial review updates recent advances in the lignin C-C and C-O bond cleavages induced by heteroatoms X (N, Si, I and Li), which also lead to functionalized products containing C-X and O-X bonds. The representative reaction pathways and feasibilities in lignin models and extracts are summarized. Potential applications of functionalized monomers in synthetic transformations, pharmaceuticals, dyes and energy storage are also discussed.

Intramolecular substitutions of secondary and tertiary alcohols with chirality transfer by an iron(III) catalyst.

Optically pure alcohols are abundant in nature and attractive as feedstock for organic synthesis but challenging for further transformation using atom efficient and sustainable methodologies, particularly when there is a desire to conserve the chirality. Usually, substitution of the OH group of stereogenic alcohols with conservation of chirality requires derivatization as part of a complex, stoichiometric procedure. We herein demonstrate that a simple, inexpensive, and environmentally benign iron(III) catalyst promotes the direct intramolecular substitution of enantiomerically enriched secondary and tertiary alcohols with O-, N-, and S-centered nucleophiles to generate valuable 5-membered, 6-membered and aryl-fused 6-membered heterocyclic compounds with chirality transfer and water as the only byproduct. The power of the methodology is demonstrated in the total synthesis of (+)-lentiginosine from D-glucose where iron-catalysis is used in a key step. Adoption of this methodology will contribute towards the transition to sustainable and bio-based processes in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries.

Functionalized spirolactones by photoinduced dearomatization of biaryl compounds.

The idea of using biaryl structures to generate synthetic building blocks such as spirolactones is attractive because biaryl structures are abundant in biomass waste streams. However, the inertness of aromatic rings of biaryls makes it challenging to transform them into functionalized structures. In this work, we developed photoinduced dearomatization of nonphenolic biaryl compounds to generate spirolactones. We demonstrate that dearomatization can be performed via either aerobic photocatalysis or anaerobic photooxidation to tolerate specific synthetic conditions. In both pathways, dearomatization is induced by electrophilic attack of the carboxyl radical. The resulting spirodiene radical is captured by either oxygen or water in aerobic and anaerobic systems, respectively, to generate the spirodienone. These methods represent novel routes to synthesize spirolactones from the biaryl motif.

A General Route to ß-Substituted Pyrroles by Transition-Metal Catalysis.

An atom-efficient route to pyrroles substituted in the ß-position has been achieved in four high yielding steps by a combination of Pd, Ru, and Fe catalysis with only water and ethene as side-products. The reaction is general and gives pyrroles substituted in the ß-position with linear and branched alkyl, benzyl, or aryl groups in overall good yields. The synthetic route includes a Pd-catalyzed monoallylation step of amines with substituted allylic alcohols that proceeds to yield the monoallylated products in moderate to excellent yields. In a second step, unsymmetrical diallylated aromatic amines are generated from the reaction of a second allylic alcohol with high selectivity in moderate to good yields by control of the reaction temperature. Ru-catalyzed ring-closing metathesis performed on the diallylated aromatic amines yields the pyrrolines substituted in the ß-position in excellent yields. By addition of ferric chloride to the reaction mixture, a selective aromatization to yield the corresponding pyrroles substituted in the ß-position was achieved. A reaction mechanism involving a palladium hydride, generated from insertion of palladium to O-H of an allyl alcohol, that is responsible for the C-O bond cleavage to generate the π-allyl intermediate is proposed.

Brønsted acid-catalyzed intramolecular nucleophilic substitution of the hydroxyl group in stereogenic alcohols with chirality transfer.

The hydroxyl group of enantioenriched benzyl, propargyl, allyl, and alkyl alcohols has been intramolecularly displaced by uncharged O-, N-, and S-centered nucleophiles to yield enantioenriched tetrahydrofuran, pyrrolidine, and tetrahydrothiophene derivatives with phosphinic acid catalysis. The five-membered heterocyclic products are generated in good to excellent yields, with high degree of chirality transfer, and water as the only side-product. Racemization experiments show that phosphinic acid does not promote SN1 reactivity. Density functional theory calculations corroborate a reaction pathway where the phosphinic acid operates as a bifunctional catalyst in the intramolecular substitution reaction. In this mechanism, the acidic proton of the phosphinic acid protonates the hydroxyl group, enhancing the leaving group ability. Simultaneously, the oxo group of phosphinic acid operates as a base abstracting the nucleophilic proton and thus enhancing the nucleophilicity. This reaction will open up new atom efficient techniques that enable alcohols to be used as nucleofuges in substitution reactions in the future.