The Chameleonic Nature of the Nitro Group Applied to a Base-Promoted Cascade Reaction To Afford Indane-Fused Dihydrofurans.

We disclose a Michael/Conia-ene/SN2 cascade reaction for the synthesis of Indane-fused dihydrofurans from 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds and 2-alkynylnitrostyrenes promoted by potassium carbonate in DMSO at room temperature. In this reaction, the nitro group has a chameleonic role, first as an electron-withdrawing group for the Michael addition, then the nitronate behaves as a nucleophile, and finally, the allylic nitro acts as a leaving group. The product is obtained as a single diastereomer, affording up to 82% with 1,3-keto esters and 58% with 1,3-diketones. Furthermore, DFT calculations of the reaction mechanism explained the chemoselective addition of the nitronate over the enolate to the unactivated triple bond, with the enolate addition being highly endothermic.

A Crystalline Dimeric Steroidal Diboronate with Electronically Impeded Rotation.

The dimeric steroid SMR-3, featuring a 1,4-phenyldiboronic ester flanked by two pregnan-triol frameworks, was synthesized to explore the intramolecular dynamics of its central component. The structural data from single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies and the Hirshfeld analyses indicate small steric effects around the aromatic ring that should favor the intended motion. However, solid-state NMR data obtained through VT 13C{1H} CPMAS and 2H spin-echo experiments, using the deuterated analogue SMR-3D4, revealed that this component is rigid even at temperatures where other reported steroidal molecular rotors experience fast rotation (85 °C). A combination of classical molecular dynamics, molecular mechanics, and correlated ab initio calculations allowed us to distinguish the steric and electronic factors that restrict the potential motion in this compound. The experimental and computational data reveal that electronic components dominate the behavior and are responsible for the high rotational barrier in the SMR-3 crystal.

Stereocontrolled Synthesis of Enantiopure cis-Fused Octahydroisoindolones via Chiral Oxazoloisoindolone Lactams.

Kinetically controlled cyclocondensation of stereoisomeric and ring-chain tautomeric mixture of (±)-hydroxylactone 1 and 0.5 equiv of (R)-phenylglycinol provided tricyclic oxazoloisoindolone lactam (3R,5aS,9aR,9bS)-2a, a versatile intermediate for further stereocontrolled transformations to access enantiopure cis-fused octahydroisoindolones. An extension of this methodology was successfully applied to the synthesis of the 5,6-dihydroxy derivative (3aR,5R,6S,7aS)-17.

The effect of chiral N-substituents with methyl or trifluoromethyl groups on the catalytic performance of mono- and bifunctional thioureas.

We evaluated thiourea organocatalysts that incorporate a chiral group which includes a trifluoromethyl moiety and contrasted their performance with non-fluorinated analogs. The comparison between such systems allows the direct study of the NH acidity of a thiourea bonded to an aliphatic substituent. In principle, -CF3 systems feature an enhanced hydrogen bond (HB) donor capacity that is undoubtedly beneficial for HB-catalysis applied to the Baylis-Hillman reaction. We found that the thiourea substituted on both nitrogens with this group accelerates this reaction like Schreiner's thiourea. On the other hand, we observed a different behavior in reactions promoted by bifunctional catalysts (thiourea-primary amine). In the Michael addition of isobutyraldehyde to methyl benzylidenepyruvate, the -CF3 containing catalysts were better than the -CH3 systems, whereas the conjugate addition to N-phenylmaleimide showed the opposite behavior. Theoretical calculations of the transition states indicated that the phenylethyl group in fluorinated and non-fluorinated compounds have different kinds of interactions with the electrophile. These interactions are responsible for a different arrangement of the electrophile and thereby the selectivity of the catalyst. Therefore, it cannot be generalized that in all cases NH acidity correlates with the performance of the catalyst, particularly, with aliphatic substituents that unlike the aromatic ones possess groups that are outside the plane of the thiourea.

Thousand-fold Conductivity Increase in 2D Perovskites by Polydiacetylene Incorporation and Doping.

Two-dimensional (2D) organic-inorganic perovskites have rapidly become an attractive alternative to traditional three-dimensional (3D) perovskite solar-cell absorbers owing to their improved stability and processability. Despite their advantages, the insulating nature of the organic cations and diminished light absorption limit their overall performance. Herein, it is demonstrated that the incorporation of conjugated diynes in hybrid 2D perovskites, and subsequent thermal treatment results in the formation of 2D perovskites that incorporate polydiacetylenes in their structure. Furthermore, it is shown that oxygen or iodine doping results in the formation of stable radicals within the material alongside a drastic shift of the band gap from 3.0 to 1.4 eV and in-plane conductivity improvements of up to three orders of magnitude, which lead to record conductivities for 2D halide perovskites (n=1).

Bifunctional Thioureas with α-Trifluoromethyl or Methyl Groups: Comparison of Catalytic Performance in Michael Additions.

Thioureas are an important scaffold in organocatalysis because of their ability to form hydrogen bonds that activate substrates and fix them in a defined position, which allows a given reaction to occur. Structures that enhance the acidity of the thiourea are usually used to increase the hydrogen-bonding properties, such as 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl and boronate ureas. Herein, we report the synthesis of bifunctional thioureas with a chiral moiety that include either a trifluoromethyl or methyl group. Their catalytic performance in representative Michael addition reactions was used in an effort to compare the electronic effects of the fluorination at the methyl group. The observed differences concerning yields and ee values cannot be attributed solely to the different steric environments; theoretical results indicate distinct interactions within the corresponding transition states. The calculated transition states show that the fluorinated catalysts have stronger N-H···O and C-H···F hydrogen bonds, while the nonfluorinated systems have C-H···π contacts. These results have shown that a variety of hydrogen-bonding interactions are important in determining the yield and selectivity of thiourea organocatalysis. These details can be further exploited in catalyst design.

Incorporation of Conjugated Diynes in Perovskites and their Post-Synthetic Modification.

Two-dimensional (2D) organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites have rapidly become an attractive alternative to three-dimensional (3D) perovskites as solar cell absorbers, owing to their improved stability, versatility, and ease of processing. Despite their advantages, the insulating nature of the organic cations makes these materials have lower absorbing and conducting properties, resulting in lower device efficiencies. A way to circumvent these issues is the integration of functional molecules that help mitigate these limitations. In this study, six new perovskites composed of three distinct diynes are synthesized, all of which can be thermally polymerized to form conjugated polymers within the perovskite layers. The incorporation of conjugated polymers results in drastic changes in these materials' optoelectronic properties and their overall stability. Furthermore, depending on the nature of the diyne and the inorganic layers, the materials show varying polymerization yields, optical bandgaps, and charge carrier densities. These results afford significant insight into the chemical nature of the polymerized species and thus highlight the versatility of this approach to post-synthetically generate conducting polymers within the layers of 2D perovskites, paving the way toward their use in optoelectronic devices.

Synthesis, NMR characterization and cytotoxic activity of hybrid spirostanic sapogenins-estradiol dimers.

Four hybrid steroid dimers were obtained by BF3·Et2O-catalyzed aldol condensation of acetylated steroid sapogenins with 2-formyl-estradiol diacetate. The structures of the obtained dimers were unambiguously established by NMR. The hybrid dimers 9a (IC50 18.37 µM) and 9c (IC50 9.4 µM) with the 5α configuration at the A/B rings junction showed the higher cytotoxicity against HeLa, with selectivity index of 4.36 and 11.8 respectively. The presence of a carbonyl function at position C-12 produced the highest cytotoxic effect, which is in line with our previous reports.

Synthesis and characterization of a fluorescent steroid dimer linked through C-19 by a 1,4-Bis(phenylethynyl)phenylene fragment.

The synthesis and characterization of a dimer in which two nuclei of 3ß-acetoxy-19-hydroxyandrost-5-en-17-one are linked by the fluorescent 1,4-bis(phenylethynyl)phenylene bridge attached to the oxygenated functions at positions C-19 of each steroid fragment is described. The compound was obtained in five steps and 23 % overall yield and showed a strong blue emission with a quantum yield of 0.66.