Copper-Catalyzed Asymmetric Arylation of N-Heteroaryl Aldimines: Elementary Step of a 1,4-Insertion.

Copper complexes of monodentate phosphoramidites efficiently promote asymmetric arylation of N-azaaryl aldimines with arylboroxines. DFT calculations and experiments support an elementary step of 1,4-insertion in the reaction pathway, a step in which an aryl-copper species adds directly across four atoms of C=N-C=N in the N-azaaryl aldimines.

Host-Guest Complexation Using Pillar[5]arene Crystals: Crystal-Structure Dependent Uptake, Release, and Molecular Dynamics of an Alkane Guest.

Host-guest complexation has been mainly investigated in solution, and it is unclear how guest molecules access the assembled structures of host and dynamics of guest molecules in the crystal state. In this study, we studied the uptake, release, and molecular dynamics of n-hexane vapor in the crystal state of pillar[5]arenes bearing different substituents. Pillar[5]arene bearing 10 ethyl groups yielded a crystal structure of herringbone-type 1:1 complexes with n-hexane, whereas pillar[5]arene with 10 allyl groups formed 1:1 complexes featuring a one-dimensional (1D) channel structure. For pillar[5]arene bearing 10 benzyl groups, one molecule of n-hexane was located in the cavity of pillar[5]arene, and another n-hexane molecule was located outside of the cavity between two pillar[5]arenes. The substituent-dependent differences in molecular arrangement influenced the uptake, release, and molecular dynamics of the n-hexane guest. The substituent effects were not observed in host-guest chemistry in solution, and these features are unique for the crystal state host-guest chemistry of pillar[5]arenes.

Ferrihydrite Particle Encapsulated within a Molecular Organic Cage.

Metal oxides with sizes of a few nanometers show variable crystal and electronic structures depending on their dimensions, and the synthesis of metal oxide particles with a desired size is a key technology in materials science. Although discrete metal oxide particles with an average diameter ( d) smaller than 2 nm are expected to show size-specific properties, such ultrasmall metal oxide particles are significantly limited in number. In nature, on the other hand, nanosized ferrihydrite (Fh), which is ferric oxyhydroxide, occurs as a result of biomineralization in ferritin, an iron storage protein cage. Here we describe the synthesis of Fh particles using a covalent molecular organic cage (MOC) derived from 8 + 12 cyclocondensation of triaminocyclohexane with a diformylphenol derivative. At the initial reaction stage, eight iron ions accumulated at the metal binding sites in the cage cavity, and Fh particles ( d = 1.9 ± 0.3 nm) encapsulated within the cage (Fh@MOC) formed with a quite narrow size distribution. The formation process of the Fh particle in the organic cage resembles the biomineralization process in the natural iron storage protein, and the present method could be applicable to the synthesis of other metal oxide particles. Fh@MOC is soluble in common organic solvents and shows substantial redox activity in MeCN.

Separation of Linear and Branched Alkanes Using Host-Guest Complexation of Cyclic and Branched Alkane Vapors by Crystal State Pillar[6]arene.

Activated crystals of pillar[6]arene produced by removing the solvent upon heating were able to take up branched and cyclic alkane vapors as a consequence of their gate-opening behavior. The uptake of branched and cyclic alkane vapors by the activated crystals of pillar[6]arene induced a crystal transformation to form one-dimensional channel structures. However, the activated crystals of pillar[6]arene hardly took up linear alkane vapors because the cavity size of pillar[6]arene is too large to form stable complexes with linear alkanes. This shape-selective uptake behavior of pillar[6]arene was further utilized for improving the research octane number of an alkane mixture of isooctane and n-heptane: interestingly, the research octane number was dramatically improved from a low research octane number (17 %) to a high research octane number (>99 %) using the activated crystals of pillar[6]arene.

Bisguanidinium dinuclear oxodiperoxomolybdosulfate ion pair-catalyzed enantioselective sulfoxidation.

Catalytic use of peroxomolybdate for asymmetric transformations has attracted increasing attention due to its catalytic properties and application in catalysis. Herein, we report chiral bisguanidinium dinuclear oxodiperoxomolybdosulfate [BG]2+[(µ-SO4)Mo2O2(µ-O2)2(O2)2]2- ion pair, as a catalyst for enantioselective sulfoxidation using aqueous H2O2 as the terminal oxidant. The ion pair catalyst is isolatable, stable and useful for the oxidation of a range of dialkyl sulfides. The practical utility was illustrated using a gram-scale synthesis of armodafinil, a commercial drug, with the catalyst generated in situ from 0.25 mol% of bisguanidinium and 2.5 mol% of Na2MoO4·2H2O. Structural characterization of this ion pair catalyst has been successfully achieved using single-crystal X-ray crystallography.

Enantioselective Sulfoxidation Catalyzed by a Bisguanidinium Diphosphatobisperoxotungstate Ion Pair.

The first enantioselective tungstate-catalyzed oxidation reaction is presented. High enantioselectivities were achieved for a variety of drug-like phenyl and heterocyclic sulfides under mild conditions with H2 O2 , a cheap and environmentally friendly oxidant. Synthetic utility was demonstrated through the preparation of (S)-Lansoprazole, a commercial proton-pump inhibitor. The active ion-pair catalyst was identified to be bisguanidinium diphosphatobisperoxotungstate using Raman spectroscopy and computational studies.