On the Mechanism of the Reactivity of 1,3-Dialkylimidazolium Salts under Basic to Acidic Conditions: A Combined Kinetic and Computational Study.

Comprehensive spectroscopic kinetic studies illustrate an alternative mechanism for the traditional free-carbene intermediated H/D exchange reaction of 1,3-dialkylimidazolium salts under neutral (D2 O) and acidic conditions (DCl/D2 O 35 wt % solution). The deuteration of high purity [bmim]Cl in D2 O is studied at different temperatures, in absence of catalyst or impurities, to yield an activation energy. DFT transition-state modelling, of a small water cluster and [bmim] cation, also yields an activation energy which strongly supports the proposed mechanism. The presence of basic impurities are shown to significantly enhance the exchange reaction, which brings into question the need for further analysis of technical purities of ionic liquids and the implications for a wide range of chemical reactions in such media.

Capricious selectivity in electrophilic deuteration of methylenedioxy substituted aromatic compounds.

Ring deuteration via the SEAr mechanism, which is usually problem-free, is found to be troublesome with methylenedioxy substituent aromatics. We report a case where the deuteration not only partially fails at one of the ortho positions but also is completely prevented by a conformation dependent effect at the other o-position. Such selectivity discrepancies are important due to the widespread occurrence of methylenedioxy substituted natural products. Density functional theory calculations were used to elucidate the exchange reaction mechanism in 1,2-dialkoxybenzenes.

Stereochemistry and rearrangement reactions of hydroxylignanolactones.

Various conflicting data on the rearrangement and absolute stereochemistry of hydroxylignano-9,7'-lactones are resolved using 18O labeled compounds, also confirmed by an X-ray analysis of a pure lignano-9,7'-lactone enantiomer, obtained for the first time. Under NaH/DMF rearrangement conditions a silyl protected hydroxylignano-9,9'-lactone underwent an unexpected silyl migration.

Autoxidation of conjugated linoleic acid methyl ester in the presence of alpha-tocopherol: the hydroperoxide pathway.

Autoxidation of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) methyl ester follows at least partly Farmer's hydroperoxide theory. A mechanism for this hydroperoxide pathway has been proposed based on autoxidation of 9-cis,11-trans-CLA methyl ester. This investigation aims at confirming and further clarifying the mechanism by analyzing the hydroperoxides produced from 10-trans,12-cis-CLA methyl ester and by theoretical calculations. Five methyl hydroxyoctadecadienoates were isolated by HPLC and characterized by UV, GC-MS, and 1D- and 2D-NMR techniques. In addition, an HPLC method for the separation of the intact hydroperoxides was developed. The autoxidation of 10-trans,12-cis-CLA methyl ester in the presence of high amount of alpha-tocopherol (20%) was diastereoselective in favor of one geometric isomer, namely Me 9-OOH-10t,12c, and produced new positional isomers 10- and 14-hydroperoxides (Me 10-OOH-11t,13t; Me 14-OOH-10t,12c; and Me 14-OOH-10t,12t). Importantly, one of these new isomers, which was characterized as an intact hydroperoxide, had an unusual cis,trans geometry where the cis double bond is adjacent to the hydroperoxyl-bearing methine carbon. Further insight to the mechanism was provided by calculating the relative energies for different conformations of the precursor lipid, the allylic carbon-hydrogen bond dissociation enthalpies, and the spin distributions on the intermediate pentadienyl radicals. As a result, a better understanding of the isomeric distribution of the product hydroperoxides was achieved and a modified mechanism that accounts for these calculations is presented.

NMR properties of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) methyl ester hydroperoxides.

NMR data on lipid hydroperoxides is scarce. In this study, hydroperoxides were produced from methyl 9-cis,11-trans-octadecadienoate and from methyl 10-trans,12-cis-octadecadienoate by autoxidation in the presence of 20% of alpha-tocopherol. Ten different hydroperoxides were isolated from the autoxidation mixtures of the two conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) methyl esters by SPE and HPLC. The assignment of the 1H and 13C NMR spectra of these hydroperoxides was accomplished by 2D NMR experiments and by spectral simulations. Substitution of a hydroperoxyl group at the allylic position in CLA methyl esters induced a 53.93 ppm downfield shift on the hydroperoxyl-bearing carbon resonance. The effects on the olefinic alpha, beta, gamma, and delta carbon resonances were -3.45, +4.96, -1.22, and +4.42 ppm, respectively. Furthermore, the solvent effects of deuterochloroform, deuteroacetone, and deuterobenzene on the 13C resonances of the hydroperoxides suggest that deuterochloroform is the appropriate solvent for 13C NMR studies on mixtures of lipid hydroperoxides.

Asymmetric synthesis, stereochemistry and rearrangement reactions of naturally occurring 7'-hydroxylignano-9,9'-lactones.

The asymmetric synthesis of a series of (7'S,8R,8'R)-7'-hydroxylignano-9,9'-lactones is presented, among them the mammalian lignan (7'S)-hydroxyenterolactone and (7'S)-parabenzlactone, allowing the stereochemistry of natural occurring (-)-parabenzlactone to be re-assigned. A hydroxylactone rearrangement and its possible mechanisms are discussed. Finally a brief survey of the current naming and numbering variants of 7'-hydroxylignano-9,9'-lactones is presented, along with a suggestion for harmonization of the nomenclature.

Stereochemistry of the hydroperoxides formed during autoxidation of CLA methyl ester in the presence of alpha-tocopherol.

The initial steps in the autoxidation of CLA methyl ester are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to determine the stereochemistry of the hydroperoxides formed during autoxidation of CLA methyl ester in the presence of a good hydrogen atom donor. For this purpose, 9-cis,11-trans CLA methyl ester was autoxidized in the presence of alpha-tocopherol under atmospheric oxygen at 40 degrees C in the dark. The CLA methyl ester hydroperoxides were isolated, reduced to the corresponding hydroxy derivatives, and separated by HPLC. The stereochemistry of seven hydroxy-CLA methyl esters was investigated. The position of the hydroxy group was determined by GC-MS. The geometry as well as the position of the double bonds in the alkyl chain was determined by NMR. In addition, the 13C NMR spectra of six hydroxy-CLA methyl esters were assigned using COSY, gradient heteronuclear multiple bond correlation, gradient heteronuclear single quantum correlation, and total correlation spectroscopy experiments. The autoxidation of 9-cis,11-trans CLA methyl ester in the presence of a good hydrogen atom donor is stereoselective in favor of one geometric isomer, namely the 13-(R,S)-hydroperoxy-9-cis,11-trans-octadecadienoic acid methyl ester. Three types of conjugated diene hydroperoxides are formed as primary hydroperoxides: trans,trans hydroperoxides (12-OOH-8t,10t and 9-OOH-10t,12t), a cis,trans hydroperoxide with the trans double bond adjacent to the hydroperoxide-bearing carbon atom (13-OOH-9c,11t), and a new type of cis,trans lipid hydroperoxide with the cis double bond adjacent to the hydroperoxide-bearing carbon atom (8-OOH-9c,11t). In addition, three nonkinetic hydroperoxides (13-OOH-9t,11t, 8-OOH-9t,11t, and 9-OOH-10t,12c) are formed. This study supports the theory that CLA methyl ester autoxidizes at least partly through an autocatalytic free radical reaction. The complexity of the hydroperoxide mixture is due to formation of two different pentadienyl radicals. Moreover, the stereoselectivity in favor of one geometric isomer can be explained by the selectivity of the two previous steps: the preferential formation of a W-conformer of the pentadienyl radical over the Z-conformer, and regioselectivity of the oxygen addition to the pentadienyl radical.