Bimetallic water oxidation: One-site catalysis with two-sites oxidation

Water oxidation is the key half reaction to achieve full splitting of water to hydrogen and oxygen.Herein,a binuclear complex,[(L^(4-))Co_(2)~Ⅲ(OH)]ClO_(4),was reported as a stable and efficient homogenous catalyst for electrocatalytic water oxidation in 0.1 M phosphate buffer(pH 7.0).Cyclic voltammetry experiments indicated that the catalytic process proceed via "one-site catalysis with two-sites oxidation" mechanism in which both two metal sites store the required oxidation equivalents for water oxidation and O-O bond formation occurs by single-site water nucleophilic attack(WNA).

A Pincer Cobalt Complex as Catalyst with Dual Hydrogenation Activities for Hydrodeoxygenation of Ketones with H2

Reductive deoxygenation of ketones using H_(2) is a highly desirable but also challenging transformation in both chemical synthesis,industrial-scale petroleum and biomass feedstock reforming processes.Herein,we report a cooperative cobalt/Lewis acid (LA)-catalyzed hydrodeoxygenation of ketones using H_(2) as the reductant.In particular,the newly developed pincer cobalt catalyst possesses dual hydrogenation activities for both ketones and alkenes under the same reaction conditions.This reaction features a broad substrate scope,excellent functional-group compatibility,and potential applicability.

Asymmetric α-Pentadienylation of β-Ketocarbonyls and Aldehydes by Synergistic Pd/Chiral Primary Amine Catalysis

Direct alkylation with skipped enynes or cyclopropropylacetylenes represents an ideal process for the installation of pentadienyl group in terms of atom- and step-economy.The development of catalytic asymmetric versions has been frequently pursued and most of the successes have been achieved with enolizable aldehydes.We herein describe a synergistic chiral primary amine/Pd catalysis for asymmetric α-pentadienylation of β-ketocarbonyls and aldehydes with skipped enynes or cyclopropropylacetylenes.The reaction features the construction of acyclic all-carbon quaternary centers with high enantioselectivity,and good functional group tolerance and scalability.

Understanding how charge-charge interaction affects the stereochemistry of enamine fluorination by chiral primary amine catalysis

Electrostatic interaction, especially electrostatic attraction, usually plays critical roles in controlling the reactivity and selectivity in catalytic transformations;however, the like-charge repulsion, which is ubiquitous in physical systems, is rarely applied in reaction control. Herein we disclosed an unexpected like-charge repulsion induced enantio-control mode in primary aminecatalyzed fluorination reactions with 1-fluoro-2,4,6-trimethylpyridinium triflate. The ionic reaction works favorably in both highly polar(methanol) and non-polar(hexane) solvents, a seldom observed phenomenon in asymmetric catalysis. Erying plot analysis showed that an inversion temperature existed in Me OH, which was explained by the solvent-solute cluster model under different temperatures. Density functional theory(DFT) study and energy decomposition analysis(EDA) verified that the likecharge repulsion takes effect in polar solvent methanol, while in nonpolar solvents, the steric repulsion associated with ion-pair was found to be the major effect for the observed enantioselectivity.

Visible Light Promoted Direct Deuteration of Alkenes via Co(III)–H Mediated H/D Exchange

We report herein a visible light-mediated direct deuteration of alkenes with D_(2)O or deuterated methanol(MeOD)using a cobaloxime as a hydrogen/deuterium(H/D)exchange catalyst.The synergistic photoredox/Co catalysis enabled facile deuterium(D)-incorporation of a variety of terminal and internal alkenes at either terminal or benzylic positions.We proposed that this process proceeded through a sequence of reversible addition-elimination reactions and fast proton exchange involving Co(III)–H,which was generated in situ by photoreduction.

Trinuclear Nickel Catalyst for Water Oxidation:Intramolecular Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer Triggered Trimetallic Cooperative O-O Bond Formation

We report a molecular trinuclear nickel(TNC-Ni)catalyst for water oxidation that exhibited high catalytic performance and stability under neutral conditions(pH 7).Electrochemical studies disclosed that cooperation among the three nickel sites plays a vital role in both charge accumulation and O-O bond formation.This TNC-Ni catalyst could accomplish 4e−oxidation of water by involving all three nickel sites and the O-O bond formation was triggered by a charge distribution process from 5 to 5_(dp) via proton-coupled electron transfer.

Recent Progress of Asymmetric Catalysis from a Chinese Perspective

The precise construction of chiral molecules is a core research area in chemical science and technology.Among the plethora of reported synthetic methods,asymmetric catalysis has emerged as one of the most efficient and direct ways to obtain optically pure chiral compounds.This article mainly reviews the recent progress of asymmetric catalysis made by Chinese chemists from the following aspects:the development of new chiral ligands,transition metal-catalyzed asymmetric reactions,asymmetric organocatalytic reactions,and new strategies for asymmetric catalysis.This review does not intend to be comprehensive;only representative examples are selected to highlight the important progress made in this field.Finally,a brief outlook is given on the development of novel chiral ligands/catalysts,new enantioselective reactions,and their applications in chiral drugs and agricultural chemicals.

Using Methanol as a Formaldehyde Surrogate for Sustainable Synthesis of N-Heterocycles via Manganese-Catalyzed Dehydrogenative Cyclization

The development of an efficient and sustainable synthetic route for formaldehyde production from renewable feedstock,especially in combination with a subsequent transformation to straightforwardly construct valuable chemicals,is highly desirable.Herein,we report a novel manganese-catalyzed dehydrogenative cyclization of methanol as a formaldehyde surrogate with a variety of dinucleophiles for facile synthesis of N-heterocycles.The in situ generated formaldehyde via catalytic methanol dehydrogenation can be selectively trapped by diverse dinucleophiles to avoid several possible side reactions.The utilty of this transformation is further highlighted by its successful appliation to the synthesis of 13C-labeled N-heterocycles using 13CH_(3)OH as a readily accessible 13C-isotope reagent.

Metal-Catalyzed Substrate-Directed Enantioselective Functionalization of Unactivated Alkenes

Alkenes are versatile compounds that are available on large scales in industry or through chemical synthesis.Selective functionalization of unactivated alkenes in a chemo-,regio-,diastereo-and enantioselective fashion is a highly sought-after goal in organic synthesis.Substrate-directed enantioselective functionalization of unactivated alkenes provides an important strategy to achieve this goal.Using a functional group on the alkene substrate as a native coordinating group,a two-point binding mode of the substrate to the metal center enables effective control of regio-;diastereo-and enantioselectivities.Through this strategy,a variety of enantioselective functionalization methods have been developed recently.The recent advances in this area are high­lighted here.

General and Phosphine-Free Cobalt-Catalyzed Hydrogenation of Esters to Alcohols

Background and Originality Content Reduction of esters to alcohols is a fundamental transformation in organic chemistry,and is important for the production of a wide range of bulk and fine chemicals.Compared with traditional approaches using stoichiometric amounts of metal hydride reagents,catalytic hydrogenation represents an environmentally benign and atom economic alternative.

Catalytic Asymmetric Addition and Telomerization of Butadiene with Enamine Intermediates

Herein,we report tunable asymmetric addition and telomerization of butadiene by synergistic chiral primary amine/achiral palladium catalysis.A selection of different achiral phosphine ligand in concert with the chiral primary amine-trifluoromethanesulfonic acid(TfOH)conjugates enables both chemo-and enantioselective control of the coupling with butadiene.Bidentate[(oxydi-2,1-phenylene)-bis-(diphenylphosphine)](DPEPhos)ligand led to 1,4-addition adduct whereas monodentate(p-Tol)3P ligand gave the telomerization product.A range ofα-branchedβ-ketoesters and aldehydes could be applied to afford allylation or telomerization products bearing allcarbon quaternary centers at high efficiency and good chemo-,regio-,and stereoselectivities.

Computational insights into the effects of reagent structure and bases on nucleophilic monofluoromethylation of aldehydes

Although fluorobis(phenylsulfonyl)methane(FBSM)and its cyclic analog 2-fluoro-1,3-benzodithiole-1,1,3,3-tetraoxide(FBDT)possess similar physicochemical properties,Shibata et al.found that FBSM failed to undergo nucleophilic monofluoromethylation of aldehydes regardless of the reaction conditions at-tempted(using various organic and inorganic bases).However,it was later discovered by Hu et al.that the nucleophilic monofluoromethylation could be accomplished by employing lithium hexamethyldisi-lazide(LiHMDS)as a base.Herein,we present an in-depth computational investigation into the intrigu-ing effects of reagent structure and bases on the nucleophilic monofluoromethylation of aldehydes.The computations reveal the 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane(DABCO)catalyzed nucleophilic monofluoromethy-lation of benzaldehyde with acyclic FBSM is a thermodynamically unfavorable process mainly due to the destabilizing O···O lone pair repulsions in FBSM product,whereas such repulsion could be largely avoided in FBDT product because of its constrained five-membered ring structure.Employing LiHMDS as a base can not only facilitate the nucleophilic monofluoromethylation via Li–O interactions but also render the monofluoromethylation of benzaldehyde with FBSM thermodynamically favored.

Mechanistic investigation of zwitterionic MOF-catalyzed enyne annulation using UNLPF-14-Mn^(Ⅲ) as catalyst

Hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics calculations were performed to elucidate how[Mn^(Ⅲ)porphyrin]^(+X−)-based metal-organic frameworks(MOFs)catalyze the[2+1]cycloisomerization of enynes and why zwitterionic MOFs exhibit strong activity in Lewis acid catalysis.The calculations showed that zwitterionic MOFs have a“pure cationic active center”leading to a concerted nucleophilic attack pathway with lower barriers.In contrast,metals with coordinating anions have reduced electrophilicity,resulting in a stepwise radical-type pathway with much higher barriers.Further calculations showed the nature of catalysis was strongly depended on the charge on the anion ligand.A good linear relationship between the NPA charge and barrier was found,and verified by 73 anions with small derivations,which presents a universal adaptive character for various coordinated anions.

Quantification of the Activation Capabilities of Lewis/Brφnsted Acid for Electrophilic Trifluoromethylthiolating Reagents

Summary of main observation and conclusion Electrophilic trifluoromethylthiolation has emerged as an important and efficient methodology for installing the SCF3 moiety onto an array of organic molecules.Due to the low reactivities of trifluoromethylthiolating reagents,these transformations often require activation through an exogenous Lewis/Br0nsted acid.We report herein the quantification of the activation capabilities of Lewis/Br0nsted acids for trifluoromethylthiolating reagents through computing the differenee in trifluoromethylthio cation donor ability(Tt+DA)between the"activated"and"unactivated"reagent.A moderate correlation is found to exist between the activation capability and Lewis acidity.

Catalytic asymmetric oxidative sulfenylation of β-ketocarbonyls using a chiral primary amine

Enantioselective oxidative construction of a C(sp^(3))–S bond has been achieved using a chiral primary amine catalyst in the presence of tert-butyl hydroperoxide and a catalytic amount of tetrabutylammonium iodide.The distinctive feature of the current reaction is coupling with nucleophilic sulfur reactants under oxidative conditions.This protocol provides facile access to chiral thioethers bearing S-containing quaternary stereocenters with good chemo-and enantiocontrol.

揭示氧化铜在电催化生物质转化中存在的电势依赖的结构演变规律

通过电催化氧化葡萄糖等可再生生物质生产高附加值化学品为实现碳中和目标提供了一条有效途径.目前用于电催化生物质氧化反应的电催化剂主要分为贵金属基催化剂和非贵金属基催化剂.对于贵金属基电催化剂,文献报道了铂基催化剂的氧化态随电势变化,进而调控电催化葡萄糖氧化的活性和选择性.对于非贵金属基催化剂,钴基和镍基氧化物和氢氧化物被广泛应用于电催化生物质氧化反应,但铜基催化剂直到最近才引起关注.最近,金属铜、氧化亚铜和氢氧化铜在内的铜基材料被证实是一类有应用前景的电催化生物质氧化催化剂,但在电化学条件下的真实活性位结构仍难以鉴定.本文针对电催化葡萄糖等生物质平台分子的氧化反应,证明了氧化铜的催化活性相随电压升高从氢氧化铜演变为羟基氧化铜,阐明了结构和反应活性及选择性的构效关系,该工作加深了对铜基催化剂活性位动态重构的理解,有助于电催化生物质转化的催化剂理性设计,促进可再生资源利用和碳中和目标的实现.

Biomimetic asymmetric catalysis

Enzymes are the core for biological transformations in nature.Their structures and functions have drawn enormous attention from biologists as well as chemists since last century.The large demand of bioactive molecules and the pursuit of efficiency and greenness of synthesis have spurred the rapid development of biomimetic chemistry in the past several decades.Biomimetic asymmetric catalysis,mimicking the structures and functions of enzymes,has been recognized as one of the most promising synthetic strategies for the synthesis of valuable chiral compounds.This review summarizes the evolution of asymmetric catalysis inspired by aldolases,vitamin B_(1)/B_(6)-dependent enzymes,NAD(P)H,flavin,hydrogenases,heme oxygenases,nonheme oxygenases,and dinuclear/multinuclear metalloenzymes in aspects of biomimetic design,catalyst development and related catalytic transformations.Those well-established synthetic approaches originating from biological reactions have demonstrated the unique prowess of biomimetic asymmetric catalysis in bridging the gap between bio-catalysis and chemical synthesis.

Computational I(Ⅲ)-X BDEs for Benziodoxol(on)e-based Hypervalent Iodine Reagents:Implications for Their Functional Group Transfer Abilities

The first comprehensive I(Ⅲ)-X(X=F,Br,CN,N3,CF3,etc.)bond dissociation energy(BDE)scales for benziodoxol(on)e-based hypervalent iodine reagents have been developed by virtue of DFT calculations.Excellent correlation is observed between the I(Ⅲ)-X BDEs and the X-H BDEs,offering a powerful avenue to quickly estimate the group-transfer ability of a novel benziodoxol(on)e-based hypervalent reagent.