Stereodynamic tetrahydrobiisoindole “NU-BIPHEP(O)”s: functionalization, rotational barriers and non-covalent interactions

Stereodynamic ligands offer intriguing possibilities in enantioselective catalysis. “NU-BIPHEPs” are a class of stereodynamic diphosphine ligands which are easily accessible via rhodium-catalyzed double [2 + 2 + 2] cycloadditions. This study explores the preparation of differently functionalized “NU-BIPHEP(O)” compounds, the characterization of non-covalent adduct formation and the quantification of enantiomerization barriers. In order to explore the possibilities of functionalization, we studied modifications of the ligand backbone, e.g., with 3,5-dichlorobenzoyl chloride. Diastereomeric adducts with Okamoto-type cellulose derivatives and on-column deracemization were realized on the basis of non-covalent interactions. Enantioselective dynamic HPLC (DHPLC) allowed for the determination of rotational barriers of ΔG‡298K = 92.2 ± 0.3 kJ mol−1 and 99.5 ± 0.1 kJ mol−1 underlining the stereodynamic properties of “NU-BIPHEPs” and “NU-BIPHEP(O)s”, respectively. These results make the preparation of tailor-made functionalized stereodynamic ligands possible and give an outline for possible applications in enantioselective catalysis

Reduced Molecular Flavins as Single-Electron Reductants after Photo-Excitation

Flavoenzymes mediate a multitude of chemical reactions and are catalytically active both in different oxidation states and in covalent adducts with reagents. The transfer of such reactivity to the organic laboratory using simplified molecular flavins is highly desirable and such applications in (photo-)oxidation reactions are already established. However, molecular flavins have not been used for the reduction of organic substrates yet, although this activity is known and well-studied for DNA photolyase enzymes. We report a catalytic method using reduced, molecular flavins as photo-reductants and γ-terpinene as sacrificial reductant. Additionally, we present our design for air-stable, reduced flavin catalysts, which is based on a conformational bias strategy and circumvents the otherwise rapid reduction of O2 from air. Using our catalytic strategy, we were able to replace super-stoichiometric amounts of the rare-earth reductant SmI2 in a 5-exo-trig cyclization of substituted barbituric acid derivatives. Such flavin-catalyzed reductions are anticipated to be of broad applicability and their straightforward synthesis indicates future use in stereo- as well as site-selective transformations

Enantiodivergent Photochemical Rearrangements Due to Different Coordination Modes at an Oxazaborolidine Lewis Acid Catalyst

A strong enantiodivergence ranging from +92% ee to −45% ee was observed in the oxadi-π-methane rearrangement of 2,4-cyclohexadienones. Oxazaborolidine-based Lewis acid catalysts of the same absolute configuration were applied in all cases, and the stereochemical outcome is solely a function of the oxazaborolidine substituents. Based on the results of an extended catalyst library screening (27 examples) and by interrogating plausible catalyst–substrate complexes in the ground state with density functional theory (DFT) methods, we could link the switch in enantioselectivity to a change in substrate binding. If the typical substrate binding at the convex catalyst side is inhibited by bulky substituents, our results indicate that substrates instead bind to the concave side, and enantiomeric products result. Studies by TDDFT in the S1 excited state further clarified the mechanistic picture by connecting efficient product formation with trajectories that reach a conical intersection with more excess energy. Our analysis was validated by the stereochemical outcome achieved with five structurally different catalysts

Enantiodivergent Photochemical Rearrangements Due to Different Coordination Modes at an Oxazaborolidine Lewis Acid Catalyst

A strong enantiodivergence ranging from +92% ee to −45% ee was observed in the oxadi-π-methane rearrangement of 2,4-cyclohexadienones. Oxazaborolidine-based Lewis acid catalysts of the same absolute configuration were applied in all cases, and the stereochemical outcome is solely a function of the oxazaborolidine substituents. Based on the results of an extended catalyst library screening (27 examples) and by interrogating plausible catalyst–substrate complexes in the ground state with density functional theory (DFT) methods, we could link the switch in enantioselectivity to a change in substrate binding. If the typical substrate binding at the convex catalyst side is inhibited by bulky substituents, our results indicate that substrates instead bind to the concave side, and enantiomeric products result. Studies by TDDFT in the S1 excited state further clarified the mechanistic picture by connecting efficient product formation with trajectories that reach a conical intersection with more excess energy. Our analysis was validated by the stereochemical outcome achieved with five structurally different catalysts

Investigation of Strain-Promoted Azide–Alkyne Cycloadditions in Aqueous Solutions by Capillary Electrophoresis

The Cu-free 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of cyclooctynes and azides is an up-and-coming method in bioorganic chemistry and other disciplines. However, broad application is still hampered by major drawbacks such as poor solubility of the reactants in aqueous media and low reaction rates. It is thus of high demand to devise a fast and user-friendly strategy for the optimization of reaction conditions and reagent design. We describe a capillary electrophoresis (CE) study of reaction kinetics in strain-promoted azide–alkyne cycloadditions (SPAAC) using substrates with acidic or basic functionalities. This study reveals that the pH value has a significant effect on reaction rates as a result of changes in the reactants’ charge state via protonation or deprotonation, and the concomitant changes of electronic properties. This novel experimental setup also enables the study of even more challenging conditions such as reactions in micelles and we did indeed observe much faster SPAAC reactions in the presence of surfactants. Careful combination of the above-mentioned parameters resulted in the identification of conditions enabling remarkable rate enhancement by a factor of 80. This electrophoretic method may thus serve as a versatile, fast and reliable tool for screening purposes in all research areas applying SPAAC reactions

Terahertz Spectroscopy of Tetrameric Peptides

Determining the sequence and structure of peptides is crucial for understanding their structure-property relationships. Among many techniques, structures are typically elucidated using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction measurements. In this study, we present terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) as a complementary, nondestructive technique that is sensitive to both the primary and secondary structures of tetrapeptides. Using only a few milligrams of peptide, THz-TDS spectra have been measured, some of which have been supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, to distinguish six tetrameric peptides with similar primary and secondary structures

CuII-selective bispidine–dye conjugates

The substitution of tetradentate bispidine ligands with rhodamine and cyanine dye molecules, coupled to an amine donor, forming an amide as potential fifth donor, is described. Bispidines are known to lead to very stable CuII complexes, and the coordination to CuII was expected to efficiently quench the fluorescence of dye molecules. However, at physiological pH the amide is not coordinated, as shown by titration experiments and crystallo- graphic structural data of three possible isomers of these complexes. This may be due to the specific cavity shape of bispidines and the Jahn–Teller lability of the CuII center. While CuII coordination in aqueous solution leads to efficient fluorescence quenching, experiments show that the complex stabilities are not large enough for CuII sensing in biological media, and possibilities are discussed, how this may be achieved by optimized bispidine–dye conjugates

Stereodynamic Quinone–Hydroquinone Molecules That Enantiomerize at sp³‑Carbon via Redox-Interconversion

Since the discovery of molecular chirality, nonsuperimposable mirror-image organic molecules have been found to be essential across biological and chemical processes and increasingly in materials science. Generally, carbon centers containing four different substituents are configurationally stable, unless bonds to the stereogenic carbon atom are broken and re-formed. Herein, we describe sp³-stereogenic carbon-bearing molecules that dynamically isomerize, interconverting between enantiomers without cleavage of a constituent bond, nor through remote functional group migration. The stereodynamic molecules were designed to contain a pair of redox-active substituents, quinone and hydroquinone groups, which allow the enantiomerization to occur via redox-interconversion. In the presence of an enantiopure host, these molecules undergo a deracemization process that allows observation of enantiomerically enriched compounds. This work reveals a fundamentally distinct enantiomerization pathway available to chiral compounds, coupling redox-interconversion to chirality