Our young chemist witnessed the Nobel Prize announcement in the field

On the occasion of 120th Anniversary of Nobel Prize, the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was announced. German scientist Benjamin List and American scientist David Macmillan were awarded "for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis". Chemistry PhD student Ming Guo from the University of Helsinki was on site. After the announcement, our doctoral researcher Ming Guo from Prof. Timo Repo’s group in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Helsinki interviewed one member of the Nobel Chemistry Committee ZOU Xiaodong. Xiaodong Zou is a full professor and chair of the Inorganic and Structural Chemistry Unit and deputy head of the Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University

Forest tree seedlings may suffer from predicted future winters

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One-step Pd/C and Eu(OTf)(3) catalyzed hydrodeoxygenation of branched C-11 and C-12 biomass-based furans to the corresponding alkanes

Solvent-free NaOH catalyzed aldol condensation of biomass-derived 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) and furfural with methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) was studied, producing branched C-11 and C-12 furan compounds in high yields of up to 96%. Through use of a Pd/C and Eu(OTf)(3) catalytic system, the condensation products of the bio-based starting materials were further hydrodeoxygenated (HDO) in one-step to biofuel compatible branched alkanes 2-methylundecane (3) and 2-methyldecane (4) in excellent yields of 90% and 98%, respectively. In the one-step HDO developed herein, the variation of solvent had a significant effect on the reaction route and degree of conversion of furans to alkanes in the HDO process. Very high overall yields of alkanes 3 (86%) and 4 (94%) were obtained starting from the biomass-based HMF and furfural. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

A new catalytic approach for aerobic oxidation of primary alcohols based on a Copper(I)-thiophene carbaldimines

We report here novel Cu(I) thiophene carbaldimine catalysts for the selective aerobic oxidation of primary alcohols to their corresponding aldehydes and various diols to lactones or lactols. In the presence of the in situ generated Cu(I) species, a persistent radical (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperdine-N-oxyl (TEMPO)) and N-methylimidazole (NMI) as an auxiliary ligand, the reaction proceeds under aerobic conditions and at ambient temperature. Especially the catalytic system of 1-(thiophen-2-yl)-N-(4-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl)methanimine (ligand L2) with copper(I)-iodide showed high reactivity for all kind of alcohols (benzylic, allylic and aliphatic). In the case of benzyl alcohol even 2.5 mol% of copper loading gave quantitative yield. Beside high activity under aerobic conditions, the catalysts ability to oxidize 1,5-pentadiol to the corresponding lactol (86% in 4 h) and Nphenyldiethanolamine to the corresponding morpholine derivate lactol (86% in 24 h) is particularly noteworthy.Peer reviewe

Selective Aerobic Oxidation of Alcohols with NO3‐ Activated Nitroxyl Radical/Manganese Catalyst System

A homogeneous Mn(NO3)(2)/2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxyl/2-picolinic acid catalyst system is highly active and versatile for the selective aerobic oxidation of alcohols (2,2,6,6-tet-ramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxyl = TEMPO, 2-picolinic acid = PyCOOH). The catalytic method enables near quantitative conversion of various primary alcohols to the respective aldehydes using a very simple reaction setup and workup. This study presents findings on the catalyst stability and mechanisms of deactivation. The results show that NO3- plays a crucial catalytic role in the reaction as a source of oxygen activating NOx species. Yet, disproportionation of NO3- to the volatile NO2 during the reaction leads to catalyst deactivation under open air conditions. Catalyst deactivation through this route can be overcome by adding a catalytic amount of nitrate salt, for example NaNO3 into the reaction. This stabilizes the Mn(NO3)(2)/TEMPO/PyCOOH catalyst and enables oxidation of various primary alcohols to the respective aldehydes using low catalyst loadings under ambient conditions. Secondary alcohols can be oxidized with a modified catalyst utilizing sterically accessible nitroxyl radical 9-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane N-oxyl (ABNO) instead of TEMPO. At the end of the alcohol oxidation, pure carbonyl products and the reusable catalyst can be recovered simply by extracting with organic solvent and dilute aqueous acid, followed by evaporation of both phases.Peer reviewe

Water tolerant base free Copper (I) catalyst for the selective aerobic oxidation of primary alcohols

We report here a base free copper(I) catalyst for the selective aerobic oxidation of primary alcohols to their corresponding aldehydes and various diols to their corresponding lactones or lactols. In the presence of the in situ generated Cu(I)-catalyst with 2,2′-dipyridylamine (dpa) as a ligand and 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperdine-N-oxyl (TEMPO) as a persistent radical, the oxidation reaction proceeds under true aerobic conditions, at ambient temperature, utilizing air as the oxidant and without added base. High catalytic activity without over oxidation was achieved for numerous primary alcohols (aliphatic, allylic, benzylic and diols) with different substitution patterns. The catalyst's stability is unique among reported Cu(I)-catalysts. It is not moisture or air sensitive, and is capable of e.g. oxidizing aliphatic and benzyl alcohols in a water/acetonitrile solution in moderate or in quantitative yield (> 99%) in 3 h.Peer reviewe

Catalytic behaviour of the Cu(i)/L/TEMPO system for aerobic oxidation of alcohols - a kinetic and predictive model

Here, we disclose a new copper(i)-Schiff base complex series for selective oxidation of primary alcohols to aldehydes under benign conditions. The catalytic protocol involves 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl (TEMPO), N-methylimidazole (NMI), ambient air, acetonitrile, and room temperature. This system provides a straightforward and rapid pathway to a series of Schiff bases, particularly, the copper(i) complexes bearing the substituted (furan-2-yl)imine bases N-(4-fluorophenyl)-1-(furan-2-yl)methanimine (L2) and N-(2-fluoro-4-nitrophenyl)-1-(furan-2-yl)methanimine (L4) have shown excellent yields. Both benzylic and aliphatic alcohols were converted to aldehydes selectively with 99% yield (in 1-2 h) and 96% yield (in 16 h). The mechanistic studies via kinetic analysis of all components demonstrate that the ligand type plays a key role in reaction rate. The basicity of the ligand increases the electron density of the metal center, which leads to higher oxidation reactivity. The Hammett plot shows that the key step does not involve H-abstraction. Additionally, a generalized additive model (GAM, including random effect) showed that it was possible to correlate reaction composition with catalytic activity, ligand structure, and substrate behavior. This can be developed in the form of a predictive model bearing in mind numerous reactions to be performed or in order to produce a massive data-set of this type of oxidation reaction. The predictive model will act as a useful tool towards understanding the key steps in catalytic oxidation through dimensional optimization while reducing the screening of statistically poor active catalysis.Peer reviewe

Parahydrogen-induced polarization study of imine hydrogenations mediated by a metal-free catalyst

Parahydrogen-induced polarization is a nuclear spin hyperpolarization technique that can provide strongly enhanced NMR signals for catalytic hydrogenation reaction products and intermediates. Among other matters, this can be employed to study the mechanisms of the corresponding chemical transformations. Commonly, noble metal complexes are used for reactions with parahydrogen. Herein, we present a PHIP study of metal-free imine hydrogenations catalyzed by the ansa-aminoborane catalyst QCAT. We discuss the reaction mechanism by showing the pairwise nature of the initial hydrogen activation step that leads to the formation of the negative net nuclear spin polarization of N-H hydrogen in the QCAT-H-2 intermediate, enabling the further transfer of parahydrogen-originating protons to the imine substrate with the accumulation of hyperpolarized amine products. Parahydrogen-induced polarization also demonstrates the reversibility of the catalytic cycle.Peer reviewe

Near quantitative conversion of xylose into bisfuran

Renewable and abundant carbohydrates are promising feedstocks for producing valuable chemicals. Here we report a highly efficient Zr-catalysed conversion of xylose and acetylacetone (acac) to a new type of bisfuranic monomer, 1-(4-((4-acetyl-5-methylfuran-2-yl)methyl)-2-methylfuran-3-yl)ethenone (MFE). The formation of MFE stems from the intermediate obtained through the nucleophilic addition of acac to xylose. Under optimized conditions (microwave irradiation, 140 degrees C, 24 min, NaI as an additive), MFE is obtained in near-quantitative yield (98%). Importantly, the reaction selectivity can be tuned by the inclusion of an additive. When NaCl is used, the reaction gives 3-(furan-2-ylmethylene)pentane-2,4-dione (FMPD, 55%), a jet-fuel precursor, and MFE (30%) with a total carbon yield of 85%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on straightforward xylose transformation to a bisfuranic compound with excellent carbon efficiency. This Garcia Gonzalez (GG) reaction inclusive strategy is remarkable and could lead to many innovations in bio-based polymer synthesis.Peer reviewe