The reaction pathway of the cyclization of 2-phenoxybenzophenone into 9-phenyl-9H-xanthen-9-ol in the presence of acid and an excess of AlCl33 was studied using density functional theory. This type of reaction is known to occur during the Friedel–Crafts polycondensation of poly(aryl ether ketones) following the undesired benzoylation of nucleophilic positions ortho- to the growing polymer’s ether groups. The formed defect acts as an undesired terminator of the polymer chain, causing severe problems in the polymer’s melt state. A branched, multistep mechanism reminiscent of the Friedel–Crafts acylation reaction is discovered; the reaction starts with the protonation of the carbonyl oxygen, followed by intramolecular electrophilic attack on the carbonyl carbon that determines the turnover frequency of the catalytic cycle and ends by deprotonation of the Wheland intermediate.

The correlation between redox properties and structural nature in a complete set of mono-ferrocenylpyrimidine derivatives (2-ferrocenylpyrimidine, 2-FcPy; 4-ferrocenylpyrimidine, 4-FcPy; 5-ferrocenylpyrimidine, 5-FcPy) was evaluated by investigating the intramolecular electronic communications. Both conventional electrochemical measurements in organic solvents and thin-film voltammetric studies of these compounds were carried out. It was discovered that their formal potentials are significantly different from each other, and shift negatively in the order of 4-FcPy > 5-FcPy > 2-FcPy. This result suggests that the intramolecular electronic communication is dictated by the delocalization effect of the p-bonding systems in 2-FcPy, and that the electron-withdrawing effect of the nitrogen atoms in the pyrimidine ring plays the key role in 4-FcPy and 5-FcPy. The single crystal X-ray structure analyis and Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculation provided additional evidence (e.g., different torsion angles between the cyclopentadienyl and pyrimidine rings) to support the observed correlation between the redox properties and structural nature. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

AbstractDFT‐Calculations to highlight the decarboxylative metallation pathway under Cu(I) and Ag(I) catalysis are performed.

Alkyl- and arylphosphines have been screened in competitive C2–H/C5–H direct phenylation of oxa(thia)zole-4-carboxylates using Cs2CO3 and Rb2CO3 carbonate bases. nCMD-based C2–H selective direct phenylation was highly kinetically reduced (or enhanced) in favor (or to the detriment) of CMD-based direct C5–H phenylation with bromo- and chlorobenzene, respectively, using highly electron-rich ligands. These results gave novel experimental proof in favor of the electrophilic substitution-type mechanism for nCMD process based upon a prior nitrogen-arylpalladium complex interaction that preludes the deprotonation step.

Using copper-catalysed Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition, we describe the synthesis of new A-π-D compounds containing a pyrimidine moiety as π-acceptor (A) and various para-substituted benzene rings as donors (D). Structure–photophysical properties relationships revealed the triazole ring to be a better π-conjugated linker than the triple bond.

The reaction pathways of several Friedel–Crafts acylations involving phenyl aromatic compounds were studied using density functional theory. The reactions were related to the Friedel–Crafts polycondensation of polyaryletherketones. In particular, the acylation of benzene with benzoyl chloride to form benzophenone and variations on this reaction were investigated. The acylation of benzene by one molecule of terephthaloyl chloride or isophthaloyl chloride as well as acylations at the m-, o-, and p-positions of diphenyl ether with one molecule of benzoyl chloride were studied. Adding an additional acyl chloride group to the electrophile appeared to have little influence on the reaction pathway, although the activation energy for the C–C bond-forming steps that occurred when isophthaloyl choride was used was different to the activation energy observed when terephthaloyl chloride was used. Upon changing the nucleophile to diphenyl ether, the reactivity changed according to the trend predicted on based on the o-, p-directing effects of the ether group. The deprotonation step that restored aromaticity varied widely according to the reaction. The rate-determining step in all of the studied reactions was the formation of the acylium ion, followed in importance by either the formation of the Wheland intermediate or the abstraction of hydrogen, depending on the reactivity of the nucleophile.

Both base-assisted non-concerted metallation-deprotonation (nCMD) and concerted metallation-deprotonation (CMD) have been identified as two potent operating mechanisms in palladium-catalysed direct C-H coupling of oxazole and thiazole-4-carboxylate esters with halides through base- and solvent-effect experiments. Novel C2- and C5-selective CMD direct arylation procedures in oxazole- and thiazole-4-carboxylate series were then designed by controlling the balance between electronic and steric factors. Notably, charge interactions between the palladium catalyst and substrate were identified as a parameter for controlling selectivity and reducing the impact of steric factors in the CMD reaction.

The energies of various Cu(II) complexes have been computed at the MM and DFT levels of theory. These complexes are constituted of Cu(II) ion used as a central ion, an enantiomer of an amino acid and l-proline or trans-4-l-Hydroxy-proline (THLP) used as chiral selectors in Ligand Exchange Capillary Electrophoresis (LECE). The energy differences of the diastereomeric complexes containing implicit water molecules computed at the DFT/B3LYP/LANL2DZ level are in good agreement with the observed enantioseparations using LECE.

AbstractA series of title compounds are prepared using Sonogashira cross‐coupling and condensation reactions.

In this paper, we describe the synthesis of various rod-like conjugated molecules with ethynyl and vinylpyridazines units. The key steps involve Sonogashira cross-coupling and condensation reactions. The light-emitting properties of some molecules are investigated in terms of absorption and emission spectra.

In spite of numerous reports dealing with the use of 1,4-dihydropyridines as carriers to deliver biological active compounds to the brain, this chemical delivery system (CDS) suffers from poor stability of the 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives towards oxidation and hydration reactions seriously limiting further investigations in vivo. In an attempt to overcome these limitations, we report herein the first biological evaluation of more stable annellated NADH models in the quinoline series as relevant neuroactive drug-carrier candidates. The radiolabeled 1,4-dihydroquinoline [(11)C] was prepared to be subsequently peripherally injected in rats. The injected animals were sacrificed and brains were collected. The radioactivity measured in rat brain indicated a rapid penetration of the carrier [(11)C] into the CNS. HPLC analysis of brain homogenates showed that oxidation of [(11)C] into the corresponding quinolinium salt [(11)C] was completed in less than 5 min. An in vivo evaluation in mice is also reported to illustrate the potential of such 1,4-dihydroquinoline derivatives to transport a neuroactive drug in the CNS. For this purpose, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), well known to poorly cross the brain blood barrier (BBB) was connected to this 1,4-dihydroquinoline-type carrier. After i.p. injection of 1,4-dihydroquinoline-GABA derivative in mice, a significant alteration of locomotor activity (LMA) was observed presumably resulting from an enhancement of central GABAergic activity. These encouraging results give strong evidence for the capacity of carrier-GABA derivative to cross the BBB and exert a pharmacological effect on the CNS. This study paves the way for further progress in designing new redox chemical delivery systems.

This paper presents the transformation of alpha,beta-unsaturated gamma-lactones into 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl substituted pyridazin-3(2H)-ones and 1,5-dihydropyrrol-2-ones starting from various hydrazines. The influence of the gamma-lactone substitution (sulfanyl versus sulfonyl moiety) and the nature of the hydrazines (unsubstituted, alkyl- or aryl-substituted) on the outcome of the reaction were studied. All new heterocycles were characterized using 1D NMR, IR, MS and their data was compared with those of two reported X-ray diffraction structures. The two possible competitive pathways leading to pyridazin-3(2H)-ones and/or 1,5-dihydropyrrol-2-ones are discussed. Ab initio DFT calculations were also performed in order to rationalize several experimental results. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Enantiomer separations of underivatised amino acids were carried out by using ligand exchange capillary electrophoresis (LECE). Chiral discrimination is based on the formation of ternary complexes between copper(II), a chiral selector (L-proline or trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline) and an amino acid. All amino acids containing aromatic moieties or not were detected at 214 nm because of their interactions with copper(II). In order to reduce copper(II) adsorption onto capillary walls, we used hexadimethrine bromide to reverse the electroosmotic flow. Using this original strategy, the studied enantiomers migrated in the opposite direction of the anodic electroosmosis. After optimising the analytical conditions taking into account the chiral resolution and the detection sensitivity, we performed very satisfactory enantioseparations not only of aromatic amino acids (tryptophan, tyrosine, phenylalanine and histidine) but also of aliphatic amino acids (threonine, serine, isoleucine and valine). These enantioseparations were performed in a short analysis time at 35 degrees C. In order to rationalise the obtained results, we evaluated the complexation constants corresponding to the formed ternary complexes by capillary electrophoresis and we used molecular mechanics modelling.

In this paper, we describe the synthesis of various push–pull molecules with a central pyrazine unit connected to a hexatriene chain terminated by various p-substituted phenyl groups. The key steps involve metallation and subsequent transmetallation of 2-chloro and 2,6-dichloropyrazine followed by a Negishi cross-coupling reaction of the intermediate organozinc derivative with (2E,4E)-5-bromopentadienal. The aldehydes are then submitted to a Wittig reaction with the appropriate phosphonium salts readily obtained from various substituted benzyl alcohols. The light-emitting properties of the so obtained molecules are then investigated in terms of absorption and emission spectra and non-linear optics experiments have been carried out in two cases.

A stereoselective approach to the preparation of 7,5-fused bicyclic lactams based on Meyers’ lactamization is presented. The lactamization step is conducted at 0°C with 6-oxohexanoic acid 1 and with various chiral aminoalcohols in the presence of 2-fluoro-1-ethylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate (FEP) as an activating agent. Under these mild conditions, bicyclic lactams 2–4 were obtained in satisfactory yields and diastereoselectivities up to 95%. To account for the high level of diastereoselection, the mechanistic aspects of Meyers’ lactamization were investigated by means of in situ infrared spectroscopy. Finally, the lactam enolate derived from 2 was subjected to reaction with various electrophiles, furnishing the corresponding β-substituted oxazoloazepinones 5–9 in good yields (up to 86%) and in moderate to excellent diastereoselectivities ranging from 27% to 95% de.

In this contribution, we describe the synthesis of bis- and tris(arylethylnyl)pyrimidine oligomers using Sonogashira, Negishi and Suzuki cross-coupling reactions and starting from chloro or iodopyrimidines. When the arms of such banana-shaped and star-shaped molecules are substituted by electron-donating groups, interesting fluorescence properties were observed. The influence of the nature of the electron-donating groups was studied and a comparison with banana-shaped and star-shaped pyrimidine core molecules without ethynyl moities was carried out, showing that the triple bonds generally enable a red shift of the absorption and emission spectra and upgrade fluorescence properties in terms of quantum yield.

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