Search

The N-acyloxyamides were employed as effective N-acyl nitrene precursors in reactions with thioethers under the catalysis of a commercially available Ru(II) complex, from which a variety of sulfimides were synthesized efficiently and mildly. If an allyl group is contained in the thioether precursor, the [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of the sulfimide occurs simultaneously and the N-allyl-N-(thio)amides were obtained as the final products. Preliminary mechanistic studies indicated that the Ru-nitrenoid species should be a key intermediate in the transformation.

Employing FeCl

An efficient and mild method for reductive C-O bond cleavage of lignin β-O-4 ketone models was developed to afford the corresponding ketones and phenols with PDI-CoCl2 as the precatalyst and diboron reagent as the reductant. The synthetic utility of the methodology was demonstrated by depolymerization of a polymeric model and gram-scale transformation. Mechanistic studies suggested that this transformation involves steps of carbonyl insertion, 1,2-Brook type rearrangement, β-oxygen elimination, and rate-limiting regeneration of the catalytic active Co-B species.

An efficient cobalt-catalyzed Z to E isomerization of β-substituted styrenes using the amido-diphosphine ligand was developed, delivering the (E)-isomers with good functional tolerance and high stereoselectivity. The reaction could be scaled up to gram-scale with a catalyst loading of 0.1 mol %, using a mixture of (Z)- and (E)-alkene as the starting material. Preliminary mechanistic studies indicated that cobalt(I)-hydride and a benzylic-cobalt species were probably involved in the reaction, as supported by experiments and DFT calculations.

The

An efficient cobalt-catalyzed

Highly enantioselective cobalt-catalyzed hydrogenation of 1,1-diarylethenes was developed by using bench-stable chiral oxazoline iminopyridine-cobalt complexes as precatalysts. A unique o-chloride effect was observed to achieve high enantioselectivity. Easy removal as well as further transformations of the chloro group make this protocol a potentially useful alternative to synthesize various chiral 1,1-diarylethanes. This process can be successfully performed under 1 atm of hydrogen at room temperature on gram scale.

The highly regio- and enantioselective iron-catalyzed anti-Markovnikov hydroboration of 1,1-disubstituted aryl alkenes is reported by using a novel chiral iminopyridine oxazoline (IPO) ligand, in which the iminopyridine group is proposed to stabilize the iron and chiral oxazoline group to control enantioselectivity. This distinct class of reactive IPO ligands will likely be of high value for a large variety of asymmetric transformations using first-row transition metals.

An iron-catalyzed hydroboration of vinylcyclopropane with HBpin is first reported for the preparation of valuable homoallylic organoboronic esters. The iron catalysts enable efficient and regioselective C–C cleavage of vinylcyclopropanes, stereoselectively delivering E-alkenes with good stereospecific selectivity at an allylic position. This protocol exhibits mild conditions with good functional group tolerability. The chiral homoallylic organoboronic esters could be further converted into chiral polysubstituted tetrahydrofuran and tetrahydropyran.