ART─An Amino Radical Transfer Strategy for C(sp2)-C(sp3) Coupling Reactions, Enabled by Dual Photo/Nickel Catalysis.

Introducing the novel concept of amino radical transfer (ART) enables the use of easily accessible and commercially available alkyl boronic esters as cross-coupling partners for aryl halides in dual photoredox/nickel catalysis mediated by visible light. Activation of otherwise photochemically innocent boronic esters by radicals generated from primary or secondary alkylamines gives rise to an outstanding functional group tolerance in a mild, fast, and air-stable reaction. As shown in more than 50 examples including unprotected alcohols, amines, and carboxylic acids, this reaction allows quick access to relevant scaffolds for organic synthesis and medicinal chemistry. In comparison with existing methods for C(sp2)-C(sp3) couplings an extraordinary generality could be realized via the ART concept, employing a single set of optimized reaction conditions. Due to its selectivity, the transformation can also be used for late-stage functionalization, as demonstrated with three exemplary syntheses of drug molecules. Furthermore, the successful one-to-one scalability of this reaction up to gram scale without the necessity of any further precautions or flow systems is demonstrated.

A high-throughput screening assay for mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 using acoustic droplet ejection mass spectrometry.

Acoustic droplet ejection mass spectrometry (ADE-MS) has recently emerged as a promising label-free, MS-based readout method for high throughput screening (HTS) campaigns in early pharmaceutical drug discovery, since it enables high-speed analysis directly from 384- or 1536-well plates. In this manuscript we describe our characterization of an ADE-MS based high sample content enzymatic assay for mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) R132H with a strong focus on assay development. IDH1 R132H has become a very attractive therapeutic target in the field of antitumor drug discovery, and several pharmaceutical companies have attempted to develop novel small molecule inhibitors against mutant IDH1. With the development of an mIDH1 ADE-MS based HTS assay and a detailed comparison of this new readout technique to the commonly used fluorescence intensity mIDH1 assay, we demonstrated good correlation of both methods and were able to identify new potent inhibitors of mIDH1.

Nonaqueous Micro Free-Flow Electrophoresis for Continuous Separation of Reaction Mixtures in Organic Media.

The continuous separation mechanism of micro free-flow electrophoresis (µFFE) is a straightforward, suitable tool for microscale purification of reaction mixtures. However, aqueous separation buffers and organic reaction solvents limit the applicability of this promising combination. Herein, we have explored nonaqueous micro free-flow electrophoresis for this purpose and present its suitability for a continuous workup of organic reactions performed in acetonitrile. After successful nonaqueous FFE separation of organic dyes, the approach was applied to continuously recover the photocatalyst [Ru(bpy)3]2+ from a homogeneous, acetonitrile-based reaction mixture. This approach opens up possibilities for further downstream processing of purified products and is also attractive for recycling of precious catalyst species.

A synergistic LUMO lowering strategy using Lewis acid catalysis in water to enable photoredox catalytic, functionalizing C-C cross-coupling of styrenes.

Easily available α-carbonyl acetates serve as convenient alkyl radical source for an efficient, photocatalytic cross-coupling with a great variety of styrenes. Activation of electronically different α-acetylated acetophenone derivatives could be effected via LUMO lowering catalysis using a superior, synergistic combination of water and (water-compatible) Lewis acids. Deliberate application of fac-Ir(ppy)3 as photocatalyst to enforce an oxidative quenching cycle is crucial to the success of this (umpolung type) transformation. Mechanistic particulars of this dual catalytic coupling reaction have been studied in detail using both Stern-Volmer and cyclic voltammetry experiments. As demonstrated in more than 30 examples, our water-assisted LA/photoredox catalytic activation strategy allows for excess-free, equimolar radical cross-coupling and subsequent formal Markovnikov hydroxylation to versatile 1,4-difunctionalized products in good to excellent yields.

A Toolbox Approach To Construct Broadly Applicable Metal-Free Catalysts for Photoredox Chemistry: Deliberate Tuning of Redox Potentials and Importance of Halogens in Donor-Acceptor Cyanoarenes.

The targeted choice of specific photocatalysts has been shown to play a critical role for the successful realization of challenging photoredox catalytic transformations. Herein, we demonstrate the successful implementation of a rational design strategy for a series of deliberate structural manipulations of cyanoarene-based, purely organic donor-acceptor photocatalysts, using 1,2,3,5-tetrakis(carbazol-9-yl)-4,6-dicyanobenzene (4CzIPN) as a starting point. Systematic modifications of both the donor substituents as well as the acceptors' molecular core allowed us to identify strongly oxidizing as well as strongly reducing catalysts (e.g., for an unprecedented detriflation of unactivated naphthol triflate), which additionally offer remarkably balanced redox potentials with predictable trends. Especially halogen arene core substitutions are instrumental for our targeted alterations of the catalysts' redox properties. Based on their preeminent electrochemical and photophysical characteristics, all novel, purely organic photoredox catalysts were evaluated in three challenging, mechanistically distinct classes of benchmark reactions (either requiring balanced, highly oxidizing or strongly reducing properties) to demonstrate their enormous potential as customizable photocatalysts, that outperform and complement prevailing typical best photocatalysts.

Unlocking the Potential of Phenacyl Protecting Groups: CO2-Based Formation and Photocatalytic Release of Caged Amines.

Orthogonal protection and deprotection of amines remain important tools in synthetic design as well as in chemical biology and material research applications. A robust, highly efficient, and sustainable method for the formation of phenacyl-based carbamate esters was developed using CO2 for the in situ preparation of the intermediate carbamates. Our mild and broadly applicable protocol allows for the formation of phenacyl urethanes of anilines, primary amines, including amino acids, and secondary amines in high to excellent yields. Moreover, we demonstrate the utility by a mild and convenient photocatalytic deprotection protocol using visible light. A key feature of the [Ru(bpy)3](PF6)2-catalyzed method is the use of ascorbic acid as reductive quencher in a neutral, buffered, two-phase acetonitrile/water mixture, granting fast and highly selective deprotection for all presented examples.

Visible Light Mediated Reductive Cleavage of C-O Bonds Accessing α-Substituted Aryl Ketones.

C-O σ-bonds in multifaceted benzoin derivatives can be effectively cleaved as acetates using catalytic amounts of [Ru(bpy)3]Cl2 as photoredox catalyst in combination with Hantzsch ester and triethylamine as a sacrificial electron donor. This mild and operationally simple method is applicable to a great variety of substrates. Homo- and cross-benzoins, which are easily accessed by NHC (N-heterocyclic carbene) catalysis, with both electron-withdrawing and electron-donating substituents, including aryl halogenides, can be employed. The deoxygenated counterparts are isolated in good to excellent yields. These broadly accessible, α-substituted (nonsymmetric) aryl ketones are versatilely applicable for further transformations as illustrated by the syntheses of 2-arylbenzofurans.