Stereoretentive Olefin Metathesis Made Easy: In Situ Generation of Highly Selective Ruthenium Catalysts from Commercial Starting Materials.

The in situ preparation of highly stereoretentive ruthenium-based metathesis catalysts is reported. This approach completely avoids the isolation of intermediates and air-sensitive catalysts, thus allowing for the rapid access and evaluation of numerous dithiolate Ru catalysts. A procedure was established to perform cross-metathesis reactions without the use of a glovebox, and on a small scale even Schlenk techniques are not required. Consequently, the chemistry displayed in this report is available to every practicing organic chemist and presents a powerful approach for the identification of new stereoretentive catalysts.

Synthesis of bio-based methacrylic acid by decarboxylation of itaconic acid and citric acid catalyzed by solid transition-metal catalysts.

Methacrylic acid, an important monomer for the plastics industry, was obtained in high selectivity (up to 84%) by the decarboxylation of itaconic acid using heterogeneous catalysts based on Pd, Pt and Ru. The reaction takes place in water at 200-250 °C without any external added pressure, conditions significantly milder than those described previously for the same conversion with better yield and selectivity. A comprehensive study of the reaction parameters has been performed, and the isolation of methacrylic acid was achieved in 50% yield. The decarboxylation procedure is also applicable to citric acid, a more widely available bio-based feedstock, and leads to the production of methacrylic acid in one pot in 41% selectivity. Aconitic acid, the intermediate compound in the pathway from citric acid to itaconic acid was also used successfully as a substrate.

Synthesis of isoidide through epimerization of isosorbide using ruthenium on carbon.

A highly efficient procedure for obtaining resin-grade isoidide through catalytic epimerization of isosorbide using a ruthenium-on-carbon (Ru/C) catalyst is reported. A comprehensive reaction-parameter variation study involving substrate concentration, catalyst (type of metal, support, and loading), initial pH value, hydrogen pressure, solvent, and reaction temperature demonstrates that superior performance and high selectivity can be achieved. Epimerization of isosorbide in water (pH 8) at 220 °C, under 40 bar of hydrogen, and using a Ru/C catalyst (5 % Ru) for 2 h results in a thermodynamic equilibrium mixture containing 55 % isoidide, 40 % isosorbide, and 5 % isomannide. In comparison with previously reported nickel-based catalysts, the Ru/C catalyst is advantageous because it is highly active (as low as 360 ppm Ru) and recyclable. High purity isoidide is obtained by high-vacuum distillation of an equilibrium mixture on a 200 g scale. The high substrate loading (50 wt % in water), high selectivity, and the possibility for substrate reuse makes this procedure highly atom efficient and therefore, highly attractive for industrial use.

Selective oxidative decarboxylation of amino acids to produce industrially relevant nitriles by vanadium chloroperoxidase.

Industrial nitriles from biomass: Vanadium-chloroperoxidase is successfully used to transform selectively glutamic acid into 3-cyanopropanoic acid, a key intermediate for the synthesis of bio-succinonitrile and bio-acrylonitrile, by using a catalytic amount of a halide salt. This clean oxidative decarboxylation can be applied to mixtures of amino acids obtained from plant waste streams, leading to easily separable nitriles.

Synthesis of biobased succinonitrile from glutamic acid and glutamine.

Succinonitrile is the precursor of 1,4-diaminobutane, which is used for the industrial production of polyamides. This paper describes the synthesis of biobased succinonitrile from glutamic acid and glutamine, amino acids that are abundantly present in many plant proteins. Synthesis of the intermediate 3-cyanopropanoic amide was achieved from glutamic acid 5-methyl ester in an 86 mol% yield and from glutamine in a 56 mol % yield. 3-Cyanopropanoic acid can be converted into succinonitrile, with a selectivity close to 100% and a 62% conversion, by making use of a palladium(II)-catalyzed equilibrium reaction with acetonitrile. Thus, a new route to produce biobased 1,4-diaminobutane has been discovered.

Enantioselective rhodium-catalysed 1,4-additions of 2-heteroarylzinc donors using Me-DUPHOS.

The enantioselective 1,4-addition of 2-(substituted)thienylzinc and 2-furanylzinc reagents has been achieved (up to 99 : 1 er) using a complex derived from [Rh(C(2)H(4))(2)Cl](2) and Me-DUPHOS.

Phosphine-olefin ligands: a facile dehydrogenative route to catalytically active rhodium complexes.

Facile, metal-mediated, (acceptorless) dehydrogenation of tricyclopentyl phosphine directly affords rhodium chelating phosphine-olefin complexes, some of which are catalytically active for 1,4-additions.

Dialyzable carbosilane dendrimers as soluble supports for the functionalization of pyridine fragments via palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions.

[reaction: see text] The use of carbosilane (CS) dendrimers as soluble supports in liquid phase organic synthesis (LPOS) is described. Control of the three key steps is perfectly achieved by covalently binding a pyridine fragment to the soluble support, modifying it via coupling reactions, and releasing it at the end. Nanofiltration (dialysis) allows facile purification of the supported molecules after each step.

Tandem isomerization/Claisen transformation of allyl homoallyl and diallyl ethers into gamma,delta-unsaturated aldehydes with a new three component catalyst Ru3(CO)12/imidazolinium salt/Cs2CO3.

The three component catalyst Ru3(CO)12/1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazolinium chloride/Cs2CO3 (molar ratio 1:3:6) successively promotes both allyl to vinyl isomerization and Claisen rearrangement from allyl homoallyl and diallyl ethers to selectively afford gamma,delta-unsaturated aldehydes.