Organocatalytic regiospecific synthesis of 1H-indene-2-carbaldehyde derivatives: suppression of cycloolefin isomerisation by employing sterically demanding catalysts.

The regiospecific synthesis of 1H-indene-2-carbaldehyde derivatives was achieved through transition-metal-free, reductive cyclisation of ortho-formyl trans-cinnamaldehydes with Hantzsch ester in the presence of an aminocatalyst. In particular, cycloolefin isomerisation of the resulting products could be inhibited efficiently by the introduction of a sterically demanding stereo-defined aminocatalyst.

Enantioselective Organocatalytic Cyclopropanation of Enals Using Benzyl Chlorides.

Herein, we describe the first enantioselective cyclopropanation of enals using benzyl chlorides as bifunctional (nucleophilic and electrophilic) reagents. The reaction is simply catalyzed by chiral secondary amines to afford the formyl cyclopropane derivatives in good yields with moderate to excellent stereoselectivities.

Metal-Free Chemoselective Oxidative Dehomologation or Direct Oxidation of Alcohols: Implication for Biomass Conversion.

A transition metal-free, chemoselective reaction was performed using the sodium tert-butoxide-oxygen (NaO(t) Bu-O2 ) system, resulting in either oxidative dehomologation or direct oxidation of alcohols. In particular, the newly developed protocol may be used to predict the major product formed, which depends on alkyl chain length of the alcohols and reaction conditions. The rational mechanism of this transformation was also demonstrated by performing an (18) O isotopic labelling experiment. This protocol presents a straightforward method for biomass conversion of a lignin model compound to phenol and benzoic acid.