Experimental Basicities of Phosphazene, Guanidinophosphazene, and Proton Sponge Superbases in the Gas Phase and Solution.

Experimental gas-phase superbasicity scale spanning 20 orders of magnitude and ranging from bicyclic guanidine 7-methyl-1,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene to triguanidinophosphazenes and P3 phosphazenes is presented together with solution basicity data in acetonitrile and tetrahydrofuran. The most basic compound in the scale-triguanidinophosphazene Et-N═P[N═C(NMe2)2]3-has the highest experimental gas-phase basicity of an organic base ever reported: 273.9 kcal mol(-1). The scale includes besides the higher homologues of classical superbasic phosphazenes and several guanidino-substituted phosphazenes also a number of recently introduced bisphosphazene and bis-guanidino proton sponges. This advancement was made possible by a newly designed Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) mass spectrometry setup with the unique ability to generate and control in the ICR cell sufficient vapor pressures of two delicate compounds having low volatility, which enables determining their basicity difference. The obtained experimental gas-phase and solution basicity data are analyzed in terms of structural and solvent effects and compared with data from theoretical calculations.

Metal-free 1,5-regioselective azide-alkyne [3+2]-cycloaddition.

[3+2]-cycloaddition reactions of aromatic azides and silylated alkynes in aqueous media yield 1,5-disubstituted-4-(trimethyl-silyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazoles. The formation of the 1,5-isomer is highly favored in this metal-free cycloaddition, which could be proven by 1D selective NOESY and X-ray investigations. Additionally, DFT calculations corroborate the outstanding favoritism regarding the 1,5-isomer. The described method provides a simple alternative protocol to metal-catalyzed "click chemistry" procedures, widening the scope for regioselective heavy-metal-free synthetic applications.

Anion complexation by triazolium "ligands": mono- and bis-tridentate complexes of sulfate.

By utilizing click chemistry and methylation, the triazolium motif was employed to design tridentate "ligands" that bind by electron acception instead of electron donation. As electronically inverted ligands they are able to complex sulfate ions by hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions. The formation of mono- or bis-tridentate complexes could be achieved by controlling the degree of methylation with the appropriate reagents and was proven by NMR spectroscopy and computational methods.

Synthesis and microwave assisted polymerization of fluorinated 2-phenyl-2-oxazolines: the fastest 2-oxazoline monomer to date.

The living cationic ring-opening polymerization of 2-oxazolines with fluorinated aromatic substituents was found to be strongly accelerated by o-fluoro substituents.

Carbon dioxide and related heterocumulenes at zinc and lithium cations: bioinspired reactions and principles.

This Perspective starts with the discussion of the properties of an interesting metalloenzyme (carbonic anhydrase, CA) that performs extremely successfully the activation of carbon dioxide. Conclusions from that are important for many synthetic procedures and include experimental and theoretical investigation (DFT calculations) of such metal mediated processes in the condensed and in the gas phase in which the zinc cation plays a dominant role. This is extended to the bio-analogue activation of further heterocumulenes such as COS, an important atmospheric trace gas, and CS(2). Novel metal complexes which serve as useful catalysts for the reactions (copolymerisations and cyclisation) of CO(2) and oxiranes are discussed subject to the inclusion of recently published DFT calculations. We continue with the discussion of the very general aspect of the insertion of CO(2) into metal-nitrogen bonds (formation of carbamates). This again is closely related to many biological or bio-analogue processes. We describe the synthesis and mechanistic aspects of characteristic metal carbamates of a wide variety of metals and include a discussion of the mechanistic aspects, especially for the formation of Mg(2+) and Li(+) carbamates and the formation of related cyclic products after addition of the heterocumulenes CO(2), Ph-NCO or CS(2) to novel ligands, the 4H-pyridin-1-ides which finally result in the formation of e.g. 1,3-thiazole-5(2H)-thiones.