Experimental and Computational Gas Phase Acidities of Conjugate Acids of Triazolylidene Carbenes: Rationalizing Subtle Electronic Effects

In recent years, triazolylidene carbenes have come to the forefront as important organocatalysts for a wide range of reactions. The fundamental properties of these species, however, remain largely unknown. Herein, the gas phase acidities have been measured and calculated for a series of triazolium cations (the conjugate acids of the triazolylidene carbenes) that have not been heretofore examined in vacuo. The results are discussed in the context of these species as catalysts. We find correlations between the gas phase acidity and selectivity in two <i>Umpolung</i> reactions catalyzed by these species; such correlations are the first of their kind. We are able to use these linear correlations to improve reaction enantioselectivity. These results establish the possibility of using these thermochemical properties to predict reactivity in related transformations

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of 1α,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D₃ Analogues with a Long Side Chain at C12 and Short C17 Side Chains

Structure-guided optimization was used to design new analogues of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ bearing the main side chain at C12 and a shorter second hydroxylated chain at C17. The new compounds <b>5a</b>–<b>c</b> were efficiently synthesized from ketone <b>9</b> (which is readily accessible from the Inhoffen–Lythgoe diol) with overall yields of 15%, 6%, and 3% for <b>5a</b>, <b>5b</b>, and <b>5c</b>, respectively. The triene system was introduced by the Pd-catalyzed tandem cyclization–Suzuki coupling method. The new analogues were assayed against human colon and breast cancer cell lines and in mice. All new vitamin D₃ analogues bound less strongly to the VDR than 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ but had similar antiproliferative, pro-differentiating, and transcriptional activity as the native hormone. In vivo, the three analogues had markedly low calcemic effects