Carbene reactivity from alkyl and aryl aldehydes.

Carbenes are highly enabling reactive intermediates that facilitate a diverse range of otherwise inaccessible chemistry, including small-ring formation and insertion into strong σ bonds. To access such valuable reactivity, reagents with high entropic or enthalpic driving forces are often used, including explosive (diazo) or unstable (gem-dihalo) compounds. Here, we report that common aldehydes are readily converted (via stable α-acyloxy halide intermediates) to electronically diverse (donor or neutral) carbenes to facilitate >10 reaction classes. This strategy enables safe reactivity of nonstabilized carbenes from alkyl, aryl, and formyl aldehydes via zinc carbenoids. Earth-abundant metal salts [iron(II) chloride (FeCl2), cobalt(II) chloride (CoCl2), copper(I) chloride (CuCl)] are effective catalysts for these chemoselective carbene additions to σ and π bonds.

Cross-Selective Aza-Pinacol Coupling via Atom Transfer Catalysis.

A cross-selective aza-pinacol coupling of aldehydes and imines has been developed to afford valuable ß-amino alcohols. This strategy enables chemoselective conversion of aliphatic aldehydes to ketyl radicals, in the presence of more easily reduced imines and other functional groups. Upon carbonyl-specific activation by AcI, a photoinitiated Mn catalyst selectively reduces the resulting α-oxy iodide by an atom transfer mechanism. The ensuing ketyl radical selectively couples to imines, precluding homodimerization by a classical reductive approach. In this first example of reductive, ketyl coupling by atom transfer catalysis, Zn serves as a terminal reductant to facilitate Mn catalyst turnover. This new strategy also enables ketyl radical couplings to alkenes, alkynes, aldehydes, propellanes, and chiral imines.

Evaluation of a nitrogen-incorporated tetrahedral amorphous carbon thin film for the detection of tryptophan and tyrosine using flow injection analysis with amperometric detection.

We report on the analytical performance of a tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C:N) thin-film electrode in flow injection analysis with amperometric detection. Two model redox analytes were used to evaluate the electrode response because of their positive detection potentials and propensity (i.e., reaction products) to adsorb and foul sp2 carbon electrodes: tyrosine and tryptophan. ta-C:N electrodes are attractive for electroanalytical applications because they possesses many of the excellent properties of boron-doped nanocrystalline diamond (BDD) and they can be deposited at or near room temperature. The results show that the ta-C:N electrode exhibits lower background current and noise than glassy carbon (GC). The electrode was stable microstructurally at the positive potentials used for detection, ∼1.1 V, of these two amino acids and it exhibited superior analytical detection figures of merit as compared to GC and as good or superior to BDD. The linear dynamic range for both analytes at ta-C:N was from 0.1 to 100 µmol L-1, the sensitivity was 8-12 mA L mol-1, the short-term response variability was 1-2%, and the minimum detectable concentration was 89.7 ± 0.9 nM (18.3 µg L-1 or 0.46 ng) for tryptophan and 120 ± 11 nM (21.7 µg L-1 or 0.54 ng) for tyrosine. The analytical detection figures of merit for these amino acids at GC and BDD are also presented for comparison as is characterization data for the chemical composition and microstructure of the ta-C:N film.

Correction: Evaluation of a nitrogen-incorporated tetrahedral amorphous carbon thin film for the detection of tryptophan and tyrosine using flow injection analysis with amperometric detection.

Correction for 'Evaluation of a nitrogen-incorporated tetrahedral amorphous carbon thin film for the detection of tryptophan and tyrosine using flow injection analysis with amperometric detection' by Romana Jarosová, et al., Analyst, 2016, DOI: .