Tiziana Benincori

Chiral atropisomeric five-membered biheteroaromatic diphosphines: New ligands of the bibenzimidazole and biindole series

Abstract Two new chiral atropisomeric biheteroaromatic diphosphines are described: 2,2′-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1′-bibenzimidazole (3a) and 3,3′-dimethyl-1,1′-bis(diphenylphosphino)-2,2′-biindole (4a). Structural characterization is given and configurational stability at room temperature demonstrated. The oxidation potential was recognized as a good tool to evaluate the electronic availability of the phosphorus atom in the series of biheteroaromatic diphosphines. Its value increases parallel to the electronic demand of the heterocyclic system and also depends on the position of the diphenylphosphino group.

(Diphenylphosphino)-biheteroaryls: the first example of a new class of chiral atropisomeric chelating diphosphine ligands for transition metal catalysed stereoselective reactions

Ruthenium(II) dichloride complexes with (+)- and (–)-2,2′-bis(diphenylphosphino)-4,4′,6,6′-tetramethyl-3,3′-bibenzo[b]thiophene (1a), new chiral atropisomeric heterocyclic ligands, reduce α- and β-oxoesters to α- and β-hydroxyesters with an enantiomeric purity comparable, if not higher, to that reported for binap under the same experimental conditions.

Inherently Chiral Macrocyclic Oligothiophenes: Easily Accessible Electrosensitive Cavities with Outstanding Enantioselection Performances

Linear conjugated oligothiophenes of variable length and different substitution pattern are ubiquitous in technologically advanced optoelectronic devices, though limitations in application derive from insolubility, scarce processability and chain-end effects. This study describes an easy access to chiral cyclic oligothiophenes constituted by 12 and 18 fully conjugated thiophene units. Chemical oxidation of an “inherently chiral” sexithiophene monomer, synthesized in two steps from commercially available materials, induces the formation of an elliptical dimer and a triangular trimer endowed with electrosensitive cavities of different tunable sizes. Combination of chirality with electroactivity makes these molecules unique in the current oligothiophenes literature. These macrocycles, which are stable and soluble in most organic solvents, show outstanding chiroptical properties, high circularly polarized luminescence effects and an exceptional enantiorecognition ability.

Steric and Electronic Effects on the Configurational Stability of Residual Chiral Phosphorus‐Centered Three‐Bladed Propellers: Tris‐aryl Phosphanes

A series of tris-aryl phosphanes, structurally designed to exist as residual enantiomers or diastereoisomers, bearing substituents differing in size and electronic properties on the aryl rings, were synthesized and characterized. Their electronic properties were evaluated on the basis of their electrochemical oxidation potential determined by voltammetry. The configurational stability of residual phosphanes, evaluated by dynamic HPLC on a chiral stationary phase or/and by dynamic (1)H and (31)P NMR spectroscopy, was found to be rather modest (barriers of about 18-20 kcal mol(-1)), much lower than that shown by the corresponding phosphane oxides (barriers of about 25-29 kcal mol(-1)). For the first time, the residual antipodes of a tris-aryl phosphane were isolated in enantiopure state and the absolute configuration assigned to them by single-crystal anomalous X-ray diffraction analysis. In this case, the racemization barrier could be calculated also by CD signal decay kinetics. A detailed computational investigation was carried out to clarify the helix reversal mechanism. Calculations indicated that the low configurational stability of tris-aryl phosphanes can be attributed to an unexpectedly easy phosphorus pyramidal inversion which, depending upon the substituents present on the blades, can occur even on the most stable of the four conformers constituting a single residual stereoisomer.

Chirality in the Absence of Rigid Stereogenic Elements: The Absolute Configuration of Residual Enantiomers of C3-Symmetric Propellers

Two new tris(aryl)phosphane oxides existing as configurationally stable residual enantiomers have been synthesised and their racemates resolved by semipreparative HPLC on a chiral stationary phase (CSP HPLC). One of them, recognised as a conglomerate, could be resolved by fractional crystallisation at a preparative scale level. In this case, the absolute configuration of the propeller-shaped molecule was determined by anomalous X-ray scattering. The problem of the correlative assignment of the absolute configuration to all known C(3)-symmetric three-bladed propeller-shaped molecules existing as stable residual enantiomers is discussed. The configurational stability of the new chiral phosphane oxides and of the corresponding phosphanes was evaluated by CD signal decay kinetics and dynamic (1)H NMR spectroscopy. The racemisation barriers in phosphanes were found about 10 kcal mol(-1) lower than those found for the corresponding oxides, though geometry and inter-ring gearing would be very similar in the two series. Configurational stability of residual tris(aryl)phosphanes was found to be influenced by the electronic availability of the phosphorus centre, as evaluated by electrochemical CV experiments.

Calix[4]arene-functionalized poly-cyclopenta[2,1-b;3,4-b′]bithiophenes with good recognition ability and selectivity for small organic molecules for application in QCM-based sensors

Some C2v symmetric cyclopenta[2,1-b;3,4-b′]bithiophenes differently substituted at the 4 position with a calix[4]arene group were synthesized and electrochemically polymerized by anodic coupling. The polymers were characterized by cyclic voltammetry, UV-vis and FTIR spectroscopy. Quartz crystal microbalance analysis showed strong affinity and selectivity of the polymers for toluene and acetone from the gas phase. The absorption process associated with the calix unit was satisfactorily described through a Langmuir isotherm, while a very small linear contribution was given by the polythiophene backbone. The absorption capacity of these materials was found to be higher by a magnitude of three orders than those displayed by cyclopentabithiophene-based polymers devoid of the calix unit, thus supplying strong, though indirect, proof of the role played by the calix units in the absorption process.

Effects of the electronic properties of chiral chelating diphosphines in stereoselective Diels–Alder cycloaddition reactions promoted by their transition metals complexes

Abstract The Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes (perchlorates and hexafluoroantimoniates, respectively) of a series of C2 symmetric biheteroaromatic diphosphines differing in their electronic properties at phosphorus have been tested as catalysts in [4+2]-cycloaddition reactions of cyclopentadiene and N-2-alkenoyl-1,3-oxazolidine-2-ones. The best stereoselection results were obtained with the complexes produced from electron-rich ligands, which were found to give also the kinetically most active catalysts.

Potentiometric chemosensor for neopterin, a cancer biomarker, using an electrochemically synthesized molecularly imprinted polymer as the recognition unit.

With an established procedure of molecular imprinting, a synthetic polymer receptor for the neopterin cancer biomarker was devised and used as a recognition unit of a potentiometric chemosensor. For that, bis-bithiophene derivatized with cytosine and bithiophene derivatized with boronic acid were used as functional monomers. The open-circuit potential (OCP) based transduction under flow-injection analysis conditions (FIA) determined neopterin in the concentration range of 0.15-2.5mM with the 22 µM limit of detection (LOD) and 7.01(±0.15) mVmM(-1) sensitivity indicating its potential suitability in clinical analysis applications. The molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) film showed an appreciable apparent imprinting factor of ~6. The chemosensor successfully discriminated the interferences including the 6-biopterin and pterin structural analogs of neopterin as well as glucose and creatinine. Moreover, it determined neopterin in synthetic serum samples.

Stereoelectronic Effects in Polythiophenes

Abstract Spectroscopic and electrical properties of conformationally syn-blocked bithiophene monomers 1–3 and polymers are shown to be strongly dependent on the infer-ring torsional angle θ.

Chirality in the absence of rigid stereogenic elements: the design of configurationally stable C3-symmetric propellers.

Residual stereoisomerism is a form of stereoisomerism scarcely considered so far for applicative purposes, though extremely interesting, since the production of stereoisomers does not involve classical rigid stereogenic elements. In three-bladed propeller-shaped molecules, a preferred stereomerization mechanism, related to the correlated rotation of the rings, allows the free interconversion of stereoisomers inside separated sets (the residual stereoisomers) that can interconvert through higher energy pathways. In light of possible future applications as chiral ligands for transition metals in stereoselective processes, some C(3)-symmetric phosphorus-centered propellers, which could exist as residual enantiomers, are synthesized and the possibility of resolving their racemates into residual antipodes is explored. While the tris(aryl)methanes are configurationally stable at room temperature, only selected tris(aryl)phosphane oxides display a configurational stability high enough to allow resolution by HPLC on a chiral stationary phase (CSP HPLC) at a semipreparative level at room temperature. Stability was evaluated through different techniques (circular dichroism (CD) signal decay, dynamic CSP HPLC (CSP DHPLC), dynamic NMR analysis (DNMR)) and the results compared and discussed. Phosphanes were found much less stable than the corresponding phosphane oxides, for which preliminary calculations suggest that the three-ring-flip enantiomerization mechanism (M(0)) would be easier than phosphorus pyramidal inversion. The parameters affecting the configurational stability of the residual enantiomers of C(3)-symmetric propellers are discussed.