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β-lactams are a chemically diverse group of molecules with a wide range of biological activities. Having recently observed curious trends in 2 J HH coupling values in studies on this structural class, we sought to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of these diagnostic NMR parameters, specifically interrogating 1 J CH , 2 J CH , and 2 J HH , to differentiate 3- and 4-monosubstituted β-lactams. Further investigation using computational chemistry methods was employed to explore the geometric and electronic origins for the observed and calculated differences between the two substitution patterns., (© 2024 The Authors. Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Herein, we disclose a facile synthetic strategy to access an important class of drug molecules that contain chiral 1,2-amino alcohol functionality utilizing highly effective ruthenium-catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of unprotected α-ketoamines. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a crisis of shortage of many important drugs, especially norepinephrine and epinephrine, for the treatment of anaphylaxis and hypotension because of the increased demand. Unfortunately, the existing technologies are not fulfilling the worldwide requirement due to the existing lengthy synthetic protocols that require additional protection and deprotection steps. We identified a facile synthetic protocol via a highly enantioselective one-step process for epinephrine and a two-step process for norepinephrine starting from unprotected α-ketoamines 1b and 1a , respectively. This newly developed enantioselective ruthenium-catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation was extended to the synthesis of many 1,2-amino alcohol-containing drug molecules such as phenylephrine, denopamine, norbudrine, and levisoprenaline, with enantioselectivities of >99% ee and high isolated yields.

We report a new class of highly effective, benzooxaphosphole-based, water-soluble ligands in the application of Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions for sterically hindered substrates in aqueous media. The catalytic activities of the coupling reactions were greatly enhanced by the addition of catalytic amounts of organic phase transfer reagents, such as tetraglyme and tetrabutylammonium bromide. The optimized general protocol can be conducted with a low catalyst load, thereby providing a practical solution for these reactions. The viability of this new Suzuki-Miyaura protocol was demonstrated with various substrates to generate important building blocks, including heterocycles, for the synthesis of biologically active compounds.

Bedaquiline (BDQ) is an important drug for treating multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), a worldwide disease that causes more than 1.6 million deaths yearly. The current synthetic strategy adopted by the manufacturers to assemble this molecule relies on a nucleophilic addition reaction of a quinoline fragment to a ketone, but it suffers from low conversion and no stereoselectivity, which subsequently increases the cost of manufacturing BDQ. The Medicines for All Institute (M4ALL) has developed a new reaction methodology to this process that not only allows high conversion of starting materials but also results in good diastereo- and enantioselectivity toward the desired BDQ stereoisomer. A variety of chiral lithium amides derived from amino acids were studied, and it was found that lithium ( R )-2-(methoxymethyl)pyrrolidide, obtained from d-proline, results in high assay yield of the desired syn -diastereomer pair (82%) and with considerable stereocontrol (d.r. = 13.6:1, e.r. = 3.6:1, 56% ee), providing BDQ in up to a 64% assay yield before purification steps toward the final API. This represents a considerable improvement in the BDQ yield compared to previously reported conditions and could be critical to further lowering the cost of this life-saving drug., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

piv ZPhos, as an effective ligand in the Cu-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones and aminoboration of alkenes, is prepared efficiently from the corresponding triflate of P -chiral dihydrobenzoazaphosphole 1 . However, the previous approach to 1 by chiral separation is time-consuming and costly, preventing its production and further application on a large scale. In this report, a practical method for the large-scale preparation of 1 was developed via chiral chemical resolution with (1 S ,2 S )-diaminocyclohexane as an effective resolution reagent.

Pyrrolo[2,1- f ][1,2,4]triazine ( 1 ) is an important regulatory starting material in the production of the antiviral drug remdesivir. Compound 1 was produced through a newly developed synthetic methodology utilizing simple building blocks such as pyrrole, chloramine, and formamidine acetate by examining the mechanistic pathway for the process optimization exercise. Triazine 1 was obtained in 55% overall yield in a two-vessel-operated process. This work describes the safety of the process, impurity profiles and control, and efforts toward the scale-up of triazine for the preparation of kilogram quantity., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

The addition of carbamoyl anions to azirines affords synthetically useful 2-aziridinyl amide building blocks. The reaction scope was explored with respect to both formamide and azirine, and the addition was found to be highly diastereoselective. A one-pot conversion of a ketoxime to an aziridinyl amide was demonstrated. The method was employed to incorporate an aziridine residue into a dipeptide segment.

Background: Setting public health policies and effectively monitoring the impact of health interventions requires accurate, timely and complete cause of death (CoD) data for populations. In Sri Lanka, almost half of all deaths occur outside hospitals, with questionable diagnostic accuracy, thus limiting their information content for policy. Objectives: To ascertain whether SmartVA is applicable in improving the specificity of cause of death data for out-of-hospital deaths in Sri Lanka, and hence enhance the value of these routinely collected data for informing public policy debates. Methods: SmartVA was applied to 2610 VAs collected between January 2017 and March 2019 in 22 health-unit-areas clustered in six districts. Around 350 community-health-workers and 50 supervisory-staffs were trained. The resulting distribution of Cause-Specific-Mortality-Fractions (CSMFs) was compared to data from the Registrar-General's-Department (RGD) for out-of-hospital deaths for the same areas, and to the Global-Burden-of-Disease (GBD) estimates for Sri Lanka. Results: Using SmartVA, for only 15% of deaths could a specific-cause not be assigned, compared with around 40% of out-of-hospital deaths currently assigned garbage codes with "very high" or "high" severity. Stroke (M: 31.6%, F: 35.4%), Ischaemic Heart Disease (M: 13.5%, F: 13.0%) and Chronic Respiratory Diseases (M: 15.4%, F: 10.8%) were identified as the three leading causes of home deaths, consistent with the ranking of GBD-Study for Sri Lanka for all deaths, but with a notably higher CSMF for stroke. Conclusions: SmartVA showed greater diagnostic specificity, applicability, acceptability in the Sri Lankan context. Policy formulation in Sri Lanka would benefit substantially with national-wide implementation of VAs., Competing Interests: Investigators affiliated with the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, are involved in the activities related to the Tariff method-one of the algorithms used in verbal autopsies, in its SmartVA (i.e., a Verbal Autopsy methodology) method. However, the analysis does not include a component that compare the performance of Tariff method with other algorithms. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Mikkelsen, de Alwis, Sathasivam, Kumarapeli, Tennakoon, Karunapema, Jayaratne, Jayasuriya, Gamage, Hewapathirana, Wadugedara, Dissanayake, Senanayake, Mahesh, McLaughlin and Lopez.)

A mild and nonreversible tert -butylation of alcohols and phenols can be achieved in high yields using the noncoordinating acid-base catalyst [bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide and 2,6-lutidine] with a tert -butylation reagent, tert -butyl 2,2,2-trichloroacetimidate. This method allows the use of substrates containing acid sensitive groups such as ketal, Boc, and boronate esters.

Selective carbon-carbon (C-C) bond formation in chemical synthesis generally requires prefunctionalized building blocks. However, the requisite prefunctionalization steps undermine the overall efficiency of synthetic sequences that rely on such reactions, which is particularly problematic in large-scale applications, such as in the commercial production of pharmaceuticals. Herein, we describe a selective and catalytic method for synthesizing 1,3-enynes without prefunctionalized building blocks. In this transformation several classes of unactivated internal acceptor alkynes can be coupled with terminal donor alkynes to deliver 1,3-enynes in a highly regio- and stereoselective manner. The scope of compatible acceptor alkynes includes propargyl alcohols, (homo)propargyl amine derivatives, and (homo)propargyl carboxamides. This method is facilitated by a tailored P,N-ligand that enables regioselective addition and suppresses secondary E / Z -isomerization of the product. The reaction is scalable and can operate effectively with as low as 0.5 mol % catalyst loading. The products are versatile intermediates that can participate in various downstream transformations. We also present preliminary mechanistic experiments that are consistent with a redox-neutral Pd(II) catalytic cycle.

An efficient general methodology for the synthesis of 4-quinolinyl ethers is demonstrated via a highly reactive S N Ar reaction of 4-quinolinyl sulfones with a range of structurally diversified 1°, 2°, and 3° alcohols with a wide substrate scope and high yields. By adapting this methodology, a convergent synthesis of a complex target of HCV NS3/4a protease inhibitor BI 201420 was accomplished.

5-Cyanoimidazole was identified as an inexpensive ligand for nickel-catalyzed cross-electrophile couplings by screening a diverse set of pharmaceutical compound library. A strategic screening approach led to the discovery of this novel ligand, which was successfully applied in the preparation of various alkylated arene products with good to high yields. Furthermore, the properties of this ligand allowed expanding the scope of reductive couplings to challenging substrates, such as sterically hindered neopentyl halides, which are known to generate motifs that are prevalent in biologically active molecules.

A series of new dihydrobenzooxophosphole-based Lewis Base organocatalysts were designed and synthesized. They are demonstrated effective in trichlorosilane-mediated stereoselective conjugate reductions of C=C bonds. DFT calculations reveal that the strong hydrogen bond between the amide linker and the chloride on silicon in the transition state contributes to the high reactivity of the catalyst 3a .

A Cu-catalyzed enantioselective aminoboration of E -vinylarenes with piv ZPhos as a ligand is reported. Enantioenriched aminoborates are prepared with excellent regio- and enantioselectivities up to >99:1 er under the optimized conditions. The utility of the current method was further established by rapid conversion of an adduct to a chiral benzo[ f ][1,4]oxazepine. A model for the stereochemistry of the asymmetric aminoboration process, which agrees with the experimental outcomes, was generated by computational analysis of the systems.

An asymmetric synthesis, amenable to library preparation of structurally diverse P-chiral t-butyl substituted secondary phosphine oxides (SPOs) and tertiary phosphine oxides (TPOs), was developed. A P-chiral H-phosphinate building block was prepared via a two-step, one-pot condensation of a chiral auxiliary with t-BuPCl 2 , followed by hydrolysis. Nucleophilic displacement of the chiral auxiliary with Grignard reagents, followed by hydrolysis, provided a library of P-chiral SPOs. In situ treatment of the prehydrolysis intermediate with electrophiles also provided a library of P-chiral TPOs in high enantiomeric purity.

Enantioenriched aldehydes are produced through asymmetric hydroformylation of styrene derivatives using BIBOP-type ligands. The featured example is enantioselective synthesis of 4-methyl-3,4-dihydroisocoumarin, which was prepared in a 95.1:4.9 enantiomeric ratio from asymmetric hydroformylation of ethyl 2-vinylbenzoate followed by in situ lactonization during the reduction process. The conditions are compatible with both electron-rich and electron-poor substituents.

The application of a Buchwald's third generation palladacycle containing a dihydrobenzooxaphosphole-based ligand (e.g., BIDIME) was reported in the Suzuki cross-coupling reaction. Using flow technology, high yield and reproducible Suzuki cross-coupling reaction for one of our key intermediates was achieved with Pd loadings as low as 0.5 mol %. This continuous flow approach overcomes catalyst deactivation and scale dependence issues that can be a problem in some traditional batch-mode operations and responds to the challenge of improving process greenness.

Despite the rapid progress in the field of asymmetric catalysis, the search for new, efficient, and practical asymmetric catalytic transformations to facilitate the green synthesis of chiral natural products and drugs will continue to be a major ongoing effort in organic chemistry. Chiral phosphorus ligands have played a significant role in recent advances in transition-metal-catalyzed asymmetric transformations. However, there remain numerous challenging issues of reactivity and selectivity in catalysis. The development of new and efficient chiral phosphorus ligands with new structural motifs remains highly desirable. P-Chiral phosphorus ligands have been overlooked and are underdeveloped, except for the early success of DIPAMP, introduced first by Knowles in the early 1970s. It was not until the late 1990s that the development of P-chiral phosphorus ligands regained attention with the advent of bisP*, TangPhos, etc. Nonetheless, most P-chiral phosphorus ligands were either difficult to prepare or operationally inconvenient. The development of efficient, practical, and operationally convenient P-chiral phosphorus ligands with new structural motifs remains an important subject of research. This Account introduces the design and development of a series of practical and efficient P-chiral bis- and monophosphorus ligands based on a 2,3-dihydrobenzo[ d][1,3]oxaphosphole motif. Their unique structural and physical properties include conformational unambiguousness, high tunability of electronic and steric properties, and operational simplicity as air-stable solids, which make them practical and exceptional ligands for asymmetric catalysis. Chiral bisphosphorus ligands such as MeO-BIBOP (L3), WingPhos (L4), and iPr-BABIBOP (L7) have demonstrated excellent enantioselectivities and unprecedented turnover numbers (TONs) in various asymmetric hydrogenations and other transformations, providing practical and efficient solutions leading to chiral amines, alcohols, carboxylic acids, and α- and β-amino acids. Chiral biaryl monophosphorus ligands, including BI-DIME (L9), AntPhos (L15), iPr-BI-DIME (L11), etc., have proven to be a class of versatile and powerful ligands for a number of catalytic asymmetric transformations, including asymmetric Suzuki-Miyaura coupling, asymmetric palladium-catalyzed dearomative cyclization, asymmetric hydroboration/diboration, asymmetric nickel-catalyzed reductive coupling, asymmetric palladium-catalyzed intramolecular arylation, asymmetric alkene aryloxyarylation, asymmetric α-arylation, asymmetric Heck reaction, and asymmetric nucleophilic addition, providing efficient solutions leading to various synthetically challenging chiral structures such as chiral biaryls, chiral tertiary alcohols, chiral α-amino tertiary boronic esters, and chiral all-carbon quaternary stereocenters. The high enantioselectivities and TONs obtained with these ligands have resulted in the syntheses of several chiral natural products and therapeutic agents in concise and highly efficient manners. While our efforts on the development of P-chiral phosphorus ligands are ongoing, it should be emphasized that the development of ligands and catalysts with new structural motifs should continue in the search for new reactivity and selectivity to tackle current synthetic challenges. Such effort is destined to promote the advances of asymmetric catalysis as well as synthetic organic chemistry.

We report the synthesis of enantiomerically enriched 1,4-benzodioxanes containing alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, and/or carbonyl substituents at the 2-position. The starting 1,4-benzodioxines were readily synthesized via ring closing metathesis using an efficient nitro-Grela catalyst at ppm levels. Excellent enantioselectivities of up to 99:1 er were obtained by using the versatile catalyst system [Ir(cod)Cl] 2 /BIDIME-dimer in the asymmetric hydrogenation of 2-substituted 1,4-benzodioxines. Furthermore, DFT calculations reveal that the selectivity of the process is controlled by the protonation step; and coordinating groups on the substrate may alter the interaction with the catalyst, resulting in a change in the facial selectivity.

The drug candidates (2) and (3) are highly potent LFA-1 inhibitors. They were efficiently prepared labeled with carbon-14 using a palladium-catalyzed carboxylation of an iodo-precursor (5) and sodium formate- 14 C to afford acid [ 14 C]-(6), which was coupled via an amide bond to chiral amines (7) and (8) in 52% and 48% overall yield, respectively, and with specific activities higher than 56 mCi/mmol and radiochemical purities of 99%. For stable isotopes synthesis, the amine [ 2 H 8 ]-(7) was synthesized in three steps from 2-cyanopyridine- 2 H 4 using Kulinkovich-Szymonik aminocyclopropanation, followed by coupling to L-alanine-2,3,3,3- 2 H 4 -N-t-BOC, and then removal of the BOC-protecting group. Amide bond formation with acid (6) gave [ 2 H 8 ]-(2) in 36% overall yield. The amine [ 13 C 4 , 15 N]-(8) was obtained in two steps using L-threonine- 14 C 4 , 15 N and then coupled to acid [ 13 C]-(6) to give [ 13 C 5 , 15 N]-(3) in 56% overall yield., (© 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions are extensively employed in both academia and industry for the synthesis of biaryl derivatives for applications to both medicine and material science. Application of these methods to prepare tetra- ortho -substituted biaryls leads to chiral atropisomeric products that introduces the opportunity to use catalyst-control to develop asymmetric cross-coupling procedures to access these important compounds. Asymmetric Pd-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura and Negishi cross-coupling reactions to form tetra- ortho -substituted biaryls were studied employing a collection of P -chiral dihydrobenzooxaphosphole (BOP) and dihydrobenzoazaphosphole (BAP) ligands. Enantioselectivities of up to 95:5 and 85:15 er were identified for the Suzuki-Miyaura and Negishi cross-coupling reactions, respectively. Unique ligands for the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction vs the Negishi reaction were identified. A computational study on these Suzuki-Miyaura and Negishi cross-coupling reactions enabled an understanding in the differences between the enantiodiscriminating events between these two cross-coupling reactions. These results support that enantioselectivity in the Negishi reaction results from the reductive elimination step, whereas all steps in the Suzuki-Miyaura catalytic cycle contribute to the overall enantioselection with transmetalation and reductive elimination providing the most contribution to the observed selectivities., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following competing financial interest(s): Some of the ligands used in this work are covered by the following patents: US 9096626, US 20130137902, US 20180155377, WO 2011126917.

1-(4-Fluorophenyl)-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-c]pyridine-4-carboxylic acid (2-methanesulfonyl-pyridin-4-ylmethyl)-amide (1) and its analogs (2) and (3) are potent CCR1 antagonists intended for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The detailed syntheses of these 3 compounds labeled with carbon-13 as well as the preparation of (1) and (2) labeled with carbon-14, and (1) labeled with tritium, are described., (Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

A new class of tunable heterophosphole dimeric ligands have been designed and synthesized. These ligands have enabled the first examples of Cu-catalyzed hydrogenation of 2-substituted-1-tetralones and related heteroaryl ketones via dynamic kinetic resolution, simultaneously creating two contiguous stereogenic centers with up to >99 : 1 dr and 98 : 2 er. The ligand-Cu complexes were isolated and characterized by single crystal X-ray, and DFT calculations revealed a novel heteroligated dimeric copper hydride transition state.

Novel bidentate phosphine ligands BABIPhos featuring a biaryl bis-dihydrobenzooxaphosphole core are presented. Their synthesis was achieved via Pd-catalyzed reductive homocoupling of dihydrobenzooxaphosphole aryl triflates. An efficient route toward various analogues was also established, giving access to phosphines with different electronic and steric properties. The newly obtained ligands demonstrated high efficiency and selectivity in Rh-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of di- and trisubstituted enamides. This new class of ligands is complementary to previously described bidentate benzooxaphosphole ligands BIBOP.

We report the first example of Pd(II)-catalyzed γ-C(sp 3 )-H activation of ketones directed by a practical 2,2-dimethyl aminooxyacetic acid auxiliary. 2-Pyridone ligands are identified to enable C(sp 3 )-H activation for the first time. A rare six-membered palladacycle intermediate is isolated and characterized to elucidate the reaction mechanism. Both (hetero)arylation and vinylation of γ-C(sp 3 )-H bonds are demonstrated. Sequential β- and γ-C(sp 3 )-H (hetero)arylation of muscone showcases the utility of this method for late-stage diversification. A convenient Mn(II)-catalyzed auxiliary removal is also developed to further underscore the practicality of this transformation.

Enantioselective synthesis of α-aryl and α-heteroaryl piperidines is reported. The key step is an iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of substituted N-benzylpyridinium salts. High levels of enantioselectivity up to 99.3:0.7 er were obtained for a range of α-heteroaryl piperidines. DFT calculations support an outersphere dissociative mechanism for the pyridinium reduction. Notably, initial protonation of the final enamine intermediate determines the stereochemical outcome of the transformation rather than hydride reduction of the resultant iminium intermediate.

A chromatography-free, asymmetric synthesis of the C2-symmetric P-chiral diphosphine t-Bu-SMS-Phos was developed using a chiral auxiliary-based approach in five steps from the chiral auxiliary in 36% overall yield. Separtion and recovery of the auxiliary were achieved with good yield (97%) to enable recycling of the chiral auxiliary. An air-stable crystalline form of the final ligand was identified to enable isolation of the final ligand by crystallization to avoid chromatography. This synthetic route was applied to prepare up to 4 kg of the final ligand. The utility of this material was demonstrated in the asymmetric hydrogenation of trifluoromethyl vinyl acetate at 0.1 mol % Rh loading to access a surrogate for the pharmaceutically relavent chiral trifluoroisopropanol fragment in excellent yield and enantiomeric excess (98.6%).

A copper-catalyzed site-selective propargylation/allenylation reaction toward carbonyl compounds has been mechanistically investigated using a computational approach. Different reaction pathways and catalytic cycles were investigated. Control of the site selectivity arises from a destabilizing interaction introduced by the phenyl-substituted ligand.

We report Pd(II)-catalyzed β-C(sp 3 )-H (hetero)arylation of a variety of ketones using a commercially available 2,2-dimethyl aminooxyacetic acid auxiliary. Facile installation and removal of the auxiliary as well as its superior scope for both ketones and (hetero)aryl iodides overcome the significant limitations of the previously reported β-C(sp 3 )-H arylation of ketones. The ready availability of ketones renders this reaction a broadly useful method for alkyl-(hetero)aryl coupling involving both primary and secondary alkyls.

The development of enantioselective carbon-carbon bond couplings catalyzed by nonprecious metals is highly desirable in terms of cost efficiency and sustainability. The first nickel-catalyzed enantioselective Mizoroki-Heck coupling is reported. This transformation is accomplished via mild reaction conditions, leveraging on QuinoxP* as a chiral ligand to afford oxindoles containing quaternary stereocenters. Good reactivity and selectivity are observed in the presence of various functional groups. Computational studies suggest that the oxidative addition assembles an atropisomeric intermediate responsible for the facial selectivity of the insertion step.

(S)-6-(2-Hydroxy-2-methylpropyl)-3-((S)-1-(4-(1-methyl-2-oxo-1,2-dihydropyridin-4-yl)phenyl)ethyl)-6-phenyl-1,3-oxazinan-2-one (1) and (4aR,9aS)-1-(1H-benzo[d]midazole-5-carbonyl)-2,3,4,4a,9,9a-hexahydro-1-H-indeno[2,1-b]pyridine-6-carbonitrile hydrochloride (2) are potent and selective inhibitor of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 enzyme. These 2 drug candidates developed for the treatment of type-2 diabetes were prepared labeled with carbon-13 and carbon-14 to enable drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics, bioanalytical, and other studies. In the carbon-13 synthesis, benzoic- 13 C 6 acid was converted in 7 steps and in 16% overall yield to [ 13 C 6 ]-(1). Aniline- 13 C 6 was converted in 7 steps to 1H-benzimidazole-1-2,3,4,5,6- 13 C 6 -5-carboxylic acid and then coupled to a tricyclic chiral indenopiperidine to afford [ 13 C 6 ]-(2) in 19% overall yield. The carbon-14 labeled (1) was prepared efficiently in 2 radioactive steps in 41% overall yield from an advanced intermediate using carbon-14 labeled methyl magnesium iodide and Suzuki-Miyaura cross coupling via in situ boronate formation. As for the synthesis of [ 14 C]-(2), 1H-benzimidazole-5-carboxylic- 14 C acid was first prepared in 4 steps using potassium cyanide- 14 C, then coupled to the chiral indenopiperidine using amide bond formation conditions in 26% overall yield., (Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

β-Ketonitriles bearing a quaternary carbon at the 2-position were prepared through Rh-catalyzed addition of aryl boronic acids to 2,2-disubstituted malononitriles. In contrast to the previously described transnitrilative cyanation of aryl boronic acids with dialkylmalononitriles, the present reaction avoids retro-Thorpe collapse of the intermediate addition product through the use of a milder base. The reaction was amenable to a variety of aryl boronic acids and disubstituted malononitriles, providing a diverse array of β-ketonitriles. The products could be further derivatized to valuable chiral α,α-disubstituted-β-aminonitriles through addition reactions to the corresponding N-tert-butanesulfinyl imines., (© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

An accurate and efficient procedure was developed for performing 13 C NMR chemical shift calculations employing density functional theory with the gauge invariant atomic orbitals (DFT-GIAO). Benchmarking analysis was carried out, incorporating several density functionals and basis sets commonly used for prediction of 13 C NMR chemical shifts, from which the B3LYP/cc-pVDZ level of theory was found to provide accurate results at low computational cost. Statistical analyses from a large data set of 13 C NMR chemical shifts in DMSO are presented with TMS as the calculated reference and with empirical scaling parameters obtained from a linear regression analysis. Systematic errors were observed locally for key functional groups and carbon types, and correction factors were determined. The application of this process and associated correction factors enabled assignment of the correct structures of therapeutically relevant compounds in cases where experimental data yielded inconclusive or ambiguous results. Overall, the use of B3LYP/cc-pVDZ with linear scaling and correction terms affords a powerful and efficient tool for structure elucidation.

An efficient and practical synthesis of enantiomerically pure P-chiral dihydrobenzooxaphosphole (BOP) core 1 is developed that is amenable to large scale preparation of the related ligand series. The unique epimerization of the P-chiral center of the undesired (R,R)-diastereomeric phosphine oxide 19 through chlorination followed by crystallization makes this chemical resolution method achieve 65% yield of desired (R,S)-diastereomer 12.

An efficient one-pot 1,4-dicarbofunctionalization of 4-fluoroaryl Grignard or lithium reagents with 2,2-disubstituted malononitriles is described. The reaction proceeds by sequential transnitrilation and S N Ar reactions. Commercial Grignard solutions, Grignard reagents prepared in situ by halogen/magnesium exchange with i-PrMgCl, or aryllithium reagents prepared in situ by bromine/lithium exchange with n-BuLi are compatible with the reaction conditions. Moreover, 2,2-disubstituted malononitriles of diverse structures are accommodated. The reaction provides a unique approach to 1,4-dicarbofunctionalization of activated arenes in a tandem, one-pot transformation.

We herein report the palladium(II)-catalyzed bromination and iodination of a variety of α-hydrogen-containing carboxylic acid and amino acid-derived amides. These reactions are exclusively enabled by quinoline-type ligands. The halogenated products obtained in this reaction are highly versatile and rapidly undergo further diversification. Further, we report the first example of a free carboxylic acid-directed Pd(II)-catalyzed C(sp 3 )-H bromination, enabled by quinoline ligands.

A general and efficient method for the synthesis of bulky and structurally diverse P-stereogenic chiral secondary phosphine oxides (SPOs) by using readily available chiral amino alcohol templates is described. These chiral SPOs could be used as chiral building blocks for the synthesis of difficult-to-access bulky P-stereogenic phosphine compounds or ligands for organic catalysis.

A metal-free tandem reaction, initiated by the generation of a diazonium cation and followed by cycloetherification, was developed. Acid-promoted de-tert-butylation of N-nitroso N-tert-butylamine was used to generate a diazonium cation in situ, demonstrating a new application of nitroso chemistry. This reaction was employed in the synthesis of substituted benzofuran-3(2H)-ones and dihydrobenzo[d][1,3]oxaphosphole 3-oxides.

The copper-catalyzed asymmetric propargylation of cyclic aldimines is reported. The influence of the imine trimer to inhibit the reaction was identified, and equilibrium constants between the monomer and trimer were determined for general classes of imines. Asymmetric propargylation of a diverse series of N-alkyl and N-aryl aldimines was achieved with good to high asymmetric induction. The utility was demonstrated by a titanium catalyzed hydroamination and reduction to generate the chiral indolizidines (-)-crispine A and (-)-harmicine.

Dabigatran etexilate or pradaxa, a novel oral anticoagulant, is a reversible, competitive, direct thrombin inhibitor. It is used to prevent strokes in patients with atrial fibrillation and the formation of blood clots in the veins (deep venous thrombosis) in adults who have had an operation to replace a hip or a knee. Pradaxa is the only novel oral anticoagulant available with both proven superiority to warfarin and a specific reversal agent for use in rare emergency situations. The detailed description of the synthesis of carbon-13 and carbon-14 labeled dabigatran etexilate, and tritium labeled dabigatran is described. The synthesis of carbon-13 dabigatran etexilate was accomplished in eight steps and in 6% overall yield starting from aniline- 13 C 6 . Ethyl bromoacetate-1- 14 C was the reagent of choice in the synthesis of carbon-14 labeled dabigatran etexilate in six steps and 17% overall yield. Tritium labeled dabigatran was prepared using either direct tritium incorporation under Crabtree's catalytic conditions or tritium-dehalogenation of a diiodo-precursor of dabigatran., (Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

A concise asymmetric synthesis of an 11β-HSD-1 inhibitor has been achieved using inexpensive starting materials with excellent step-economy at low catalyst loadings. The catalytic enantioselective total synthesis of 1 was accomplished in 7 steps and 38% overall yield aided by the development of an innovative, sequential strategy involving Pd-catalyzed pyridinium C-H arylation and Ir-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of the resulting fused tricyclic indenopyridinium salt highlighted by the use of a unique P,N-ligand (MeO-BoQPhos) with 1000 ppm of [Ir(COD)Cl] 2 .

Hyosine butyl bromide, the active ingredient in Buscopan, is an anticholinergic and antimuscarinic drug used to treat pain and discomfort caused by abdominal cramps. A straightforward synthesis of carbon-14- and deuterium-labeled Buscopan was developed using scopolamine, n-butyl-1- 14 C bromide, and n-butyl- 2 H 9 bromide, respectively. In a second carbon-14 synthesis, the radioactive carbon was incorporated in the tropic acid moiety to follow its metabolism. Herein, we describe the detailed preparations of carbon-14- and deuterium-labeled Buscopan., (Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

An Ir-catalyzed enantioselective hydrogenation of 2-alkyl-pyridines has been developed using ligand MeO-BoQPhos. High levels of enantioselectivities up to 93:7 er were obtained. The resulting enantioenriched piperidines can be readily converted into biologically interesting molecules such as the fused tricyclic structures 5, 6, and 7 in 99:1 er, providing a novel, concise synthetic route to this family of chiral piperidine-containing compounds.

A nickel-catalyzed Heck cyclization for the construction of quaternary stereocenters is reported. This transformation is demonstrated in the synthesis of 3,3-disubstituted oxindoles, which are prevalent motifs seen in numerous biologically active molecules. The method shows broad scope, proceeds in synthetically useful yields, and provides a rare means to construct stereochemically complex frameworks by nonprecious-metal catalysis., (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Hydrophosphination of bicyclo[1.1.0]butyl nitriles with phosphine boranes and phosphites provided novel cyclobutyl-P derivatives. The reaction generally favors the syn-diastereomer, and the nitrile can be reduced and converted to other functional groups, thus enabling the preparation of bidentate ligands that access new conformational space by virtue of their attachment to the torsionally malleable but sterically restrictive cyclobutane scaffold. The enantioselective hydrogenation of dehydrophenylalanine using a bidentate phosphine-phosphite ligand illustrates the synthetic utility of the newly prepared scaffold.

The direct arylation of pyridine substrates using non-precious catalysts is underdeveloped but highly desirable due to its efficiency to access important motifs while being extremely cost-effective. The first nickel-catalyzed C-3 direct arylation of pyridine derivatives to provide a new approach to valuable 1-azafluorene pharmacophore frameworks was developed. This transformation is accomplished using air-stable nickel catalyst precursors combined with phenanthroline ligands and tolerates a variety of substituents. Computational studies suggest facile oxidative addition via the pyridinium form, deprotonation, and a subsequent carbo-nickelation cyclization. Nickel homolysis/recombination permits isomerization to the stereochemical array needed for the final elimination.

Air-stable and tunable chiral bisdihydrobenzooxaphosphole ligands (BIBOPs) were employed in rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydroformylation of various terminal olefins with excellent conversions (>99%), moderate-to-excellent enantioselectivities (up to 95:5 er), and branched to linear ratios (b:l) of up to 400.