Transition Metal-Catalyzed Redox Reactions : A Journey from Homogeneous Ruthenium to Heterogeneous Palladium Catalysis

The first part of the thesis covers the development and utilization of electronically modified (pentaarylcyclopentadienyl)Ru-complexes in the racemization of secondary alcohols. This study revealed that the electronic properties of the substrate were the main factors dictating whether β-hydride elimination or hydride re-addition becomes the rate-determining step of the racemization process. With this knowledge in hand, it proved to be possible to design more efficient racemization protocols by matching the electronic properties of catalyst and substrate. The second part describes mechanistic work that aimed at elucidating the role of CO dissociation in the mechanism of secondary alcohol racemization catalyzed by a (pentaarylcyclopentadienyl)Ru-complex. From CO exchange studies, we demonstrated that CO dissociation occurred in the catalytically active tert-BuO-species as well as in the chloride precatalyst. Furthermore, an inhibition study showed that an increase of the partial pressure of CO had a negative influence on the racemization rate. Together, these two observations provide strong support for CO dissociation as a key step in the racemization of secondary alcohols. The third part concerns the improved synthesis and characterization of a heterogeneous catalyst consisting of Pd nanoparticles immobilized on aminopropyl-functionalized siliceous mesocellular foam. The developed Pd nanocatalyst was found to be a highly efficient and recyclable catalyst for the aerobic oxidation of a wide range of primary and secondary alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes and ketones. The fourth part deals with the successful application of the Pd nanocatalyst in chemically-induced H2O oxidation, when using either ceric ammonium nitrate or [Ru(bpy)3]3+ as the terminal oxidant. Remarkably, the Pd nanocatalyst proved to catalyze this reaction with high efficiency and the measured TOF was found to greatly exceed those of current state-of-the-art metal oxide catalysts. The fifth and final part describes the co-immobilization of Pd nanoparticles and the enzyme Candida Antarctica Lipase B into the same cavities of mesocellular foam, to generate a “metalloenzyme-like” hybrid catalyst for the dynamic kinetic resolution of a primary amine. The close proximity of the two catalytic species led to an enhanced cooperativity between them and resulted in an overall more efficient tandem process. At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Manuscript. Paper 5: Epub ahead of print.</p

Synthesis of Elaborate Benzofuran-2-Carboxamide Derivatives Through a Combination of 8-Aminoquinoline Directed C–H Arylations and Transamidations

Benzofurans are everywhere in nature and they have been extensively studied by medicinal chemists over the years because of their chemotherapeutic and physiological properties. Herein, we describe a strategy that can be used to access elaborate benzo-2-carboxamide derivatives, which involves a synthetic sequence of 8-aminoquinoline directed C–H arylations followed by transamidations. For the directed C–H arylations, Pd catalysis was used to install a wide range of aryl and heteroaryl substituents at the C3 position of the benzofuran scaffold in high efficiency. Directing group cleavage and further diversification of the C3-arylated benzofuran products were then achieved in a single synthetic operation through the utilization of a two-step transamidation protocol. By bocylating the 8-aminoquinoline amide moiety of these products, it proved possible to activate them towards aminolysis with different amine nucleophiles. Interestingly, this aminolysis reaction was found to proceed efficiently without the need of any additional catalyst or additive. Given the high efficiency and modularity of this synthetic strategy, it constitute a very attractive approach for generating structurally-diverse collections of benzofuran derivatives for small molecule screening

A Study of an 8-Aminoquinoline-Directed C(sp(2))-H Arylation Reaction on the Route to Chiral Cyclobutane Keto Acids from Myrtenal

This work outlines a synthetic route that can be used to access chiral cyclobutane keto acids with two stereocenters in five steps from the inexpensive terpene myrtenal. Furthermore, the developed route includes an 8-aminoquinoline- directed C(sp(2))-H arylation as one of its key steps, which allows a wide range of aryl and heteroaryl groups to be incorporated into the bicyclic myrtenal scaffold prior to the ozonolysis-based ringo-pening step that furnishes the target cyclobutane keto acids. This synthetic route is expected to find many applications connected to the synthesis of natural product-like compounds and small molecule libraries

Electrochemical Palladium-Catalyzed Oxidative Carbonylation-Cyclization of Enallenols

Herein, we report an electrochemical oxidative palladium-catalyzed carbonylation-carbocyclization of enallenols to afford γ-lactones and spirolactones, which proceeds with excellent chemoselectivity. Interestingly, electrocatalysis was found to have an accelerating effect on the rate of the tandem process, leading to a more efficient reaction than that under chemical redox conditions

A General Suzuki Cross-Coupling Reaction of Heteroaromatics Catalyzed by Nanopalladium on Amino-Functionalized Siliceous Mesocellular Foam

Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions of heteroaromatics catalyzed by palladium supported in the cavities of amino-functionalized siliceous mesocellular foam are presented. The nanopalladium catalyst effectively couples not only heteroaryl halides with boronic acids but also heteroaryl halides with boronate esters, potassium trifluoroborates, MIDA boronates, and triolborates, producing a wide range of heterobiaryls in good to excellent yields. Furthermore, the heterogeneous palladium nanocatalyst can easily be removed from the reaction mixture by filtration and recycled several times with minimal loss in activity. This catalyst provides an alternative, environmentally friendly, low-leaching process for the preparation of heterobiaryls.AuthorCount:4;</p

Synthesis of Elaborate Benzofuran-2-Carboxamide Derivatives through a Combination of 8-Aminoquinoline Directed C–H Arylation and Transamidation Chemistry

Herein, we present a short and highly modular synthetic route that involves 8-aminoquinoline directed C&ndash;H arylation and transamidation chemistry, and which enables access to a wide range of elaborate benzofuran-2-carboxamides. For the directed C&ndash;H arylation reactions, Pd catalysis was used to install a wide range of aryl and heteroaryl substituents at the C3 position of the benzofuran scaffold in high efficiency. Directing group cleavage and further diversification of the C3-arylated benzofuran products were then achieved in a single synthetic operation through the utilization of a one-pot, two-step transamidation procedure, which proceeded via the intermediate N-acyl-Boc-carbamates. Given the high efficiency and modularity of this synthetic strategy, it constitutes a very attractive method for generating structurally diverse collections of benzofuran derivatives for small molecule screening campaigns