Multiple Approaches to the In Situ Generation of Anhydrous Tetraalkylammonium Fluoride Salts for SNAr Fluorination Reactions.

This article focuses on the development of practical approaches to the in situ generation of anhydrous fluoride salts for applications in nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) reactions. We report herein that a variety of combinations of inexpensive nucleophiles (e.g., tetraalkylammonium cyanide and phenoxide salts) and fluorine-containing electrophiles (e.g., acid fluoride, fluoroformate, benzenesulfonyl fluoride, and aryl fluorosulfonate derivatives) are effective for this transformation. Ultimately, we demonstrate that the combination of tetramethylammonium 2,6-dimethylphenoxide and sulfuryl fluoride (SO2F2) serves as a particularly practical route to anhydrous tetramethylammonium fluoride. This procedure is applied to the SNAr fluorination of a range of electron-deficient aryl and heteroaryl chlorides as well as nitroarenes.

Nucleophilic Deoxyfluorination of Phenols via Aryl Fluorosulfonate Intermediates.

This report describes a method for the deoxyfluorination of phenols with sulfuryl fluoride (SO2F2) and tetramethylammonium fluoride (NMe4F) via aryl fluorosulfonate (ArOFs) intermediates. We first demonstrate that the reaction of ArOFs with NMe4F proceeds under mild conditions (often at room temperature) to afford a broad range of electronically diverse and functional group-rich aryl fluoride products. This transformation was then translated to a one-pot conversion of phenols to aryl fluorides using the combination of SO2F2 and NMe4F. Ab initio calculations suggest that carbon-fluorine bond formation proceeds via a concerted transition state rather than a discrete Meisenheimer intermediate.

Characterizing Chain Processes in Visible Light Photoredox Catalysis.

The recognition that Ru(bpy)32+ andsimilar visible light absorbing transition metal complexes can be photocatalysts for a variety of synthetically useful organic reactions has resulted in a recent resurgence of interest in photoredox catalysis. However, many of the critical mechanistic aspects of this class of reactions remain poorly understood. In particular, the degree to which visible light photoredox reactions involve radical chain processes has been a point of some disagreement that has not been subjected to systematic analysis. We have now performed quantum yield measurements to demonstrate that threerepresentative, mechanistically distinct photoredox processes involve product-forming chain reactions. Moreover, we show that the combination of quantum yield and luminescence quenching experiments provides a rapid method to estimate the length of these chains. Together, these measurements constitute a robust, operationally facile strategy for characterizing chain processes in a wide range of visible light photoredox reactions.

Correction: Characterizing chain processes in visible light photoredox catalysis.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/C5SC02185E.].

Efficient NQO1 substrates are potent and selective anticancer agents.

A major goal of personalized medicine in oncology is the identification of drugs with predictable efficacy based on a specific trait of the cancer cell, as has been demonstrated with gleevec (presence of Bcr-Abl protein), herceptin (Her2 overexpression), and iressa (presence of a specific EGFR mutation). This is a challenging task, as it requires identifying a cellular component that is altered in cancer, but not normal cells, and discovering a compound that specifically interacts with it. The enzyme NQO1 is a potential target for personalized medicine, as it is overexpressed in many solid tumors. In normal cells NQO1 is inducibly expressed, and its major role is to detoxify quinones via bioreduction; however, certain quinones become more toxic after reduction by NQO1, and these compounds have potential as selective anticancer agents. Several quinones of this type have been reported, including mitomycin C, RH1, EO9, streptonigrin, ß-lapachone, and deoxynyboquinone (DNQ). However, no unified picture has emerged from these studies, and the key question regarding the relationship between NQO1 processing and anticancer activity remains unanswered. Here, we directly compare these quinones as substrates for NQO1 in vitro, and for their ability to kill cancer cells in culture in an NQO1-dependent manner. We show that DNQ is a superior NQO1 substrate, and we use computationally guided design to create DNQ analogues that have a spectrum of activities with NQO1. Assessment of these compounds definitively establishes a strong relationship between in vitro NQO1 processing and induction of cancer cell death and suggests these compounds are outstanding candidates for selective anticancer therapy.

Reductive Cyclizations of Nitroarenes to Hydroxamic Acids by Visible Light Photoredox Catalysis.

We have developed a photocatalytic reduction of nitroarenes as an efficient, chemoselective route to biologically important N-phenyl hydroxamic acid scaffolds. Optimal conditions call for 2.5 mol% of a ruthenium photocatalyst, visible light irradiation, and a dihydropyridine terminal reductant. Because of the mild nature of the visible light activation, functional groups that might be sensitive to other non-photochemical reduction methods are easily tolerated.

Visible Light Photocatalysis of Radical Anion Hetero-Diels-Alder Cycloadditions.

We have discovered a photocatalytic intramolecular hetero-Diels-Alder reaction of tethered bis(enones). This transformation involves the intermediacy of an enone radical anion and constitutes the formal coupling of an electron-deficient heterodiene with an electronically mismatched enone dienophile. The diastereoselectivity and regioselectivity of the process are high, and the dihydropyran products are amenable to a variety of synthetically useful transformations.