Pei Chui Too

Rhodium(III)-Catalyzed Synthesis of Isoquinolines from Aryl Ketone O-Acyloxime Derivatives and Internal Alkynes

A synthetic method of isoquinolines from aryl ketone O-acyloxime derivatives and internal alkynes has been developed using [Cp*RhCl(2)](2)-NaOAc as the potential catalyst system. The present transformation is carried out by a redox-neutral sequence of C-H vinylation via ortho-rhodation and C-N bond formation of the putative vinyl rhodium intermediate on the oxime nitrogen, where the N-O bond of oxime derivatives could work as an internal oxidant to maintain the catalytic cycle.

Synthesis of Azaheterocycles from Aryl Ketone O-Acetyl Oximes and Internal Alkynes by Cu–Rh Bimetallic Relay Catalysts

A synthetic method for azaheterocycles from aryl ketone O-acetyl oximes and internal alkynes has been developed by using the Cu(OAc)(2)-[Cp*RhCl(2)](2) bimetallic catalytic system. The reactions proceeded with both of anti- and syn-isomers of oximes with a wide scope of substituents. The Cu-Rh bimetallic system could be applied for the synthesis of isoquinolines as well as β-carboline, furo[2.3-c]pyridine, pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridine, and thieno[2,3-c]pyridine derivatives.

Concise Synthesis and Two‐Photon‐Excited Deep‐Blue Emission of 1,8‐Diazapyrenes

Efficient violet-blue-emitting molecules are especially useful for applications in full-color displays, solid-state lighting, as well as in two-photon absorption (TPA) excited frequency-upconverted violet-blue lasing. However, the reported violet-blue-emitting molecules generally possess small TPA cross sections. In this work, new 1,8-diazapyrenes derivatives 3 with blue two-photon-excited fluorescence emission were concisely synthesized by the coupling reaction of readily available 1,4-naphthoquinone O,O-diacetyl dioxime (1) with internal alkynes 2 under the [{RhCl(2)Cp*}(2)]-Cu(OAc)(2) (Cp*=pentamethylcyclopentadienyl ligand) bimetallic catalytic system. Elongation of the π-conjugated length of 1,8-diazapyrenes 3 led to the increase of TPA cross sections without the expense of a redshift of the emission wavelength, probably due to the rigid planar structure of chromophores. It is especially noteworthy that 2,3,6,7-tetra(4-bromophenyl)-1,8-diazapyrene (3c) has a larger TPA cross section than those of other molecules reported so far. These experimental results are explained in terms of the effects of extension of the π-conjugated system, intramolecular charge transfer, and reduced detuning energy.

A CuBr-mediated aerobic reaction of 2-alkynylbenzaldehydes and primary amines: synthesis of 4-bromoisoquinolones

A method for synthesis of 4-bromoisoquinolones has been developed starting from 2-alkynylbenzaldehydes and primary amines mediated by CuBr under an O(2) atmosphere, where CuBr plays multiple roles to facilitate the present reactions.

Hydride Reduction by a Sodium Hydride–Iodide Composite

Abstract Sodium hydride (NaH) is widely used as a Brønsted base in chemical synthesis and reacts with various Brønsted acids, whereas it rarely behaves as a reducing reagent through delivery of the hydride to polar π electrophiles. This study presents a series of reduction reactions of nitriles, amides, and imines as enabled by NaH in the presence of LiI or NaI. This remarkably simple protocol endows NaH with unprecedented and unique hydride‐donor chemical reactivity.

Understanding the Origins of Nucleophilic Hydride Reactivity of a Sodium Hydride–Iodide Composite

Sodium hydride (NaH) has been commonly used as a Brønsted base in chemical syntheses, while it has rarely been employed to add hydride (H(-) ) to unsaturated electrophiles. We previously developed a procedure to activate NaH through the addition of a soluble iodide source and found that the new NaH-NaI composite can effect even stereoselective nucleophilic hydride reductions of nitriles, imines, and carbonyl compounds. In this work, we report that mixing NaH with NaI or LiI in tetrahydrofuran (THF) as a solvent provides a new inorganic composite, which consists of NaI interspersed with activated NaH, as revealed by powder X-ray diffraction, and both solid-state NMR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies. DFT calculations imply that this remarkably simple inorganic composite, which is comprised of NaH and NaI, gains nucleophilic hydridic character similar to covalent hydrides, resulting in unprecedented and unique hydride donor chemical reactivity.

Copper-catalyzed aerobic aliphatic C–H oxygenation with hydroperoxides

Summary We report herein Cu-catalyzed aerobic oxygenation of aliphatic C–H bonds with hydroperoxides, which proceeds by 1,5-H radical shift of putative oxygen-centered radicals (O-radicals) derived from hydroperoxides followed by trapping of the resulting carbon-centered radicals with molecular oxygen.