Oxaaza cyclophanes in the recognition of nucleotides. The role of oxygen and electron-rich aromatic rings.

Dioxapolyaza cyclophanes derived from resorcinol and different polyamine chains have been studied in aqueous solution as abiotic receptors for nucleotides. The presence of the additional ethyleneoxy subunits is reflected in a higher basicity and in a significant increase in the log K values for the interaction with nucleotides relative to that of related polyazacyclophanes.

Pybox monolithic miniflow reactors for continuous asymmetric cyclopropanation reaction under conventional and supercritical conditions.

Supported catalysts having pybox chiral moieties were prepared as macroporous monolithic miniflow systems. These catalysts are based on styrene-divinylbenzene polymeric backbones having different compositions and pybox chiral moieties. Their corresponding ruthenium complexes were tested for the continuous flow cyclopropanation reaction between styrene and ethyldiazoacetate (EDA) under conventional conditions and in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2). Ru-Pybox monolithic miniflow reactors not only provided a highly efficient and robust heterogeneous chiral catalyst but also allowed us to develop more environmental reaction conditions without sacrificing the global efficiency of the process.

Improvement of ligand economy controlled by polymer morphology: the case of polymer-supported bis(oxazoline) catalysts.

A functionalized chiral bis(oxazoline) is used as a chiral monomer in polymerization reactions leading to homo- and copolymers of different morphology. Polymers with a high content of chiral monomer lead to enantioselectivities that are higher than those obtained with the soluble ligand, but the chiral ligand is not used in an optimal way. A hyperbranched polymer, obtained by using a hexavinyldendrimer as the cross-linker, leads to the same enantioselectivities with a more efficient use of the chiral ligand.

Bis(oxazoline)copper complexes covalently bonded to insoluble support as catalysts in cyclopropanation reactions.

Chiral bis(oxazolines) are readily dialkylated in the methylene bridge, opening the way to immobilization at that position, keeping the C(2) symmetry of the chiral ligand. Bis(oxazolines) functionalized with two allyl or vinylbenzyl groups are easily grafted onto mercaptopropylsilica. Another approach to immobilization is the polymerization of the ligands bearing vinylbenzyl groups to yield insoluble polymers. The Cu(OTf)(2) complexes of the immobilized ligands promote the enantioselective cyclopropanation reaction between styrene and ethyl diazoacetate. The results depend on the nature of the support and the method of immobilization. With regard to the type of solid, the best results, which are similar to or even better than those obtained with the corresponding dibenzylated homogeneous catalysts, are obtained with homopolymers. With regard to the bis(oxazoline), that bearing indan groups leads to good results both onto silica and polymers, whereas with the ligand bearing tert-butyl groups good enantioselectivities are only obtained with homopolymeric catalysts. Some of the heterogeneous catalysts can be easily recovered and reused, as much as five times, with the same yield and stereoselectivities.

Dopamine interaction in the absence and in the presence of Cu2+ ions with macrocyclic and macrobicyclic polyamines containing pyrazole units. Crystal structures of [Cu2(L1)(H2O)2](ClO4)4 and [Cu2(H-1L3)](ClO4)3*2H2O.

The interaction with Cu2+ and dopamine of three polyazacyclophanes containing pyrazole fragments as spacers is described. Formation of mixed complexes Cu2+-macrocycle-dopamine has been studied by potentiometric methods in aqueous solution. The crystal structures of the complexes [Cu2(L1)(H2O)2](ClO4)4*2H2O (4) (L1 = 13,26-dibenzyl-3,6,9,12,13,16,19,22,25,26-decaazatricyclo[22.2.1.1(11,14)]octacosa-1(27),11,14(28),24-tetraene) and [Cu2(H-1L3)](HClO4)(ClO4)2*2H2O (6) (L3 = 1,4,7,8,11,14,17,20,21,24,29,32,33,36-tetradecaazapentacyclo[12.12.12.1(6,9).1(19,22).1(31,34)]hentetraconta-6,9(41),19(40),21,31,34(39)-hexaene) are presented. In the first one (4), each Cu2+ coordination site is made up by the three nitrogens of the polyamine bridge, a sp2 pyrazole nitrogen and one water molecule that occupies the axial position of a square pyramid. The distance between the copper ions is 6.788(2) A. In the crystal structure of 6, the coordination geometry around each Cu2+ is square pyramidal with its base being formed by two secondary nitrogens of the bridge and two nitrogen atoms of two different pyrazolate units which act as exobidentate ligands. The axial positions are occupied by the bridgehead nitrogen atoms; the elongation is more pronounced in one of the two sites [Cu(1)-N(1), 2.29(2) A; Cu(2)-N(6), 2.40(1) A]. The Cu-N distances involving the deprotonated pyrazole moieties are significantly shorter than those of the secondary nitrogens. The Cu(1)...Cu(2) distance is 3.960(3) A. The pyrazole in the noncoordinating bridge does not deprotonate and lies to one side of the macrocyclic cavity. One of the aliphatic nitrogens of this bridge is protonated and hydrogen bonded to a water molecule, which is further connected to the sp2 nitrogen of the pyrazole moiety through a hydrogen bond. The solution studies reveal a ready deprotonation of the pyrazole units induced by coordination to Cu2+. In the case of L2 (L2 = 3,6,9,12,13,16,19,22,25,26-decaazatricyclo[22.2.1.1(11,14)]octacosa-1(27),11,14(28),24-tetraene), deprotonation of both pyrazole subunits is already observed at pH ca. 4 for 2:1 Cu2+:L2 molar ratios. All three free receptors interact with dopamine in aqueous solution. L3 is a receptor particularly interesting with respect to the values of the interaction constants over five logarithmic units at neutral pH, which might suggest an encapsulation of dopamine in the macrocyclic cage. All three receptors form mixed complexes Cu2+-L-dopamine. The affinity for the formation of ternary dopamine complexes is particularly high in the case of the binuclear Cu2+ complexes of the 1-benzyl derivative L1.