N‑Methylation of Amines with Methanol at Room Temperature

N-Methylation of amines with methanol proceeds at room temperature in the presence of a silver-loaded titanium dioxide (Ag/TiO₂) photocatalyst under UV–vis light irradiation. This method allows facile synthesis/isolation of <i>N</i>-methylamines bearing various functional groups including <i>N</i>-benzyl, <i>N</i>-allyl, <i>N</i>-Boc, hydroxyl, ether, acetal, carboxamide, formamide, and olefin groups

Nucleophile-Catalyzed Additions to Activated Triple Bonds. Protection of Lactams, Imides, and Nucleosides with MocVinyl and Related Groups

Additions of lactams, imides, (<i>S</i>)-4-benzyl-1,3-oxazolidin-2-one, 2-pyridone, pyrimidine-2,4-diones (AZT derivatives), or inosines to the electron-deficient triple bonds of methyl propynoate, <i>tert</i>-butyl propynoate, 3-butyn-2-one, <i>N</i>-propynoylmorpholine, or <i>N</i>-methoxy-<i>N</i>-methylpropynamide in the presence of many potential catalysts were examined. DABCO and, second, DMAP appeared to be the best (highest reaction rates and <i>E/Z</i> ratios), while RuCl₃, RuClCp*­(PPh₃)₂, AuCl, AuCl­(PPh₃), CuI, and Cu₂(OTf)₂ were incapable of catalyzing such additions. The groups incorporated (for example, the 2-(methoxycarbonyl)­ethenyl group that we name MocVinyl) serve as protecting groups for the above-mentioned heterocyclic CONH or CONHCO moieties. Deprotections were accomplished via exchange with good nucleophiles: the 1-dodecanethiolate anion turned out to be the most general and efficient reagent, but in some particular cases other nucleophiles also worked (e.g., MocVinyl-inosines can be cleaved with succinimide anion). Some structural and mechanistic details have been accounted for with the help of DFT and MP2 calculations