Polyoxometalate-intercalated layered double hydroxides as efficient and recyclable bi-functional catalysts for cascade reactions

The polyoxometalate (POM) intercalated-layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have been widely used as heterogeneous catalysts. However, the application of POM-LDHs as bi-functional catalysts for cascade reaction has seldom been studied comparing with the noble metal-based catalysts. Herein, a series of POM-LDHs catalysts of Tris-LDH-X4(PW9)2 (X = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn) has been prepared; The efficacy of Tris-LDH-Zn4(PW9)2 as efficient bi-functional catalyst has been demonstrated for cascade reactions involving oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde followed by Knoevenagel condensation with ethyl cyanoacetate to produce benzylidene ethyl cyanoacetate. The combination of POM's redox/acidic sites and LDHs's basic sites led to a composite catalyst with excellent activity (99%) and selectivity (≥ 99%) under mild and soluble-base-free conditions. This work offer a new design strategy for the fabrication of efficient bi-functional catalysts for the promotion of one-pot cascade reactions

8H-Chromeno[2′,3′:4,5]imidazo[2,1-a]isoquinoline

The title compound, C18H12N2O, comprises two aromatic fragments, viz., imidazo[2,1-a]isoquinoline and benzene, linked by oxygen and methyl­ene bridges. Despite the absence of a common conjugative system within the mol­ecule, it adopts an essentially planar conformation with an r.m.s. deviation of 0. 036 Å. In the crystal, due to this structure, mol­ecules form stacks along the b axis by π⋯π stacking inter­actions, with shortest C⋯C distances in the range 3.340 (4)–3.510 (4) Å. The mol­ecules are bound by inter­molecular C—H⋯O inter­actions within the stacks and C—H⋯π inter­actions between the stacks

Synthesis of diverse indole-containing scaffolds by gold(I)-catalyzed tandem reactions of 3-propargylindoles initiated by 1,2-indole migrations: scope and computational studies

Similar to propargylic carboxylates and sulphides, 3- propargylindoles undergo 1,2-indole migrations under cationic gold(I)- catalysis. The intermediate Aucarbenoid complex may evolve through different pathways depending on the substituents at the propargylic and terminal positions of the alkyne moiety. Thus, 3-indenylindole derivatives were easily obtained through formal iso- Nazarov or Nazarov cyclizations. DFT computations support the formation of an alkylidenecyclopropane intermediate that undergoes aura-iso-Nazarov or aura-Nazarov cyclizations upon torquoselective ring opening. In addition, 3-dienylindoles could be accessed when none of the referred pathways were accessible and so the intermediate Au-carbenoid complex evolved via a 1,2-CH insertion reaction. We have also demonstrated that the final products can be obtained in a one-pot protocol from easily available propargylic alcohols and indolesMEC/FEDER (CTQ2007-61436/BQU) and Junta de Castilla y León (BU021A09) for financial support. We are also grateful to MEC (FPU predoctoral fellowship to D.M., “Young Foreign Researchers” contract (SB2006-0215) to M.G., “Ramón y Cajal” contract to M.A.F.-R., and “Juan de la Cierva” contract to P.G.-G.) and Fundación Ramón Areces (predoctoral fellowship to A.G.P.).This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Sanz, R., Miguel, D., Gohain, M., García-García, P., Fernández-Rodríguez, Manuel A., González-Pérez, A., Nieto-Faza, O., de Lera, Ángel R. and Rodríguez, F. (2010), Synthesis of Diverse Indole-Containing Scaffolds by Gold(I)-Catalyzed Tandem Reactions of 3-Propargylindoles Initiated by 1,2-Indole Migrations: Scope and Computational Studies. Chem. Eur. J., 16: 9818–9828. doi:10.1002/chem.201001162, which has been published in final form at doi:10.1002/chem.201001162. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archivin

Tandem synthesis of alternating polyesters from renewable resources

The vast majority of commodity materials are obtained from petrochemical feedstocks. These resources will plausibly be depleted within the next 100 years, and the peak in global oil production is estimated to occur within the next few decades. In this regard, biomass represents an abundant carbon-neutral renewable resource for the production of polymers. Here we report a new strategy, based on tandem catalysis, to obtain renewable materials. Commercially available complexes are found to be efficient catalysts for alternating polyesters from the cyclization of dicarboxylic acids followed by alternating copolymerization of the resulting anhydrides with epoxides. This operationally simple method is an attractive strategy for the production of new biodegradable polyesters

Homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts for multicomponent reactions

[EN] Organic synthesis performed through multicomponent reactions is an attractive area of research in organic chemistry. Multicomponent reactions involve more than two starting reagents that couple in an exclusive ordered mode under the same reaction conditions to form a single product which contains the essential parts of the starting materials. Multicomponent reactions are powerful tools in modern drug discovery processes, because they are an important source of molecular diversity, allowing rapid, automated and high throughput generation of organic compounds. This review aims to illustrate progress in a large variety of catalyzed multicomponent reactions performed with acid, base and metal heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts. Within each type of multicomponent approach, relevant products that can be obtained and their interest for industrial applications are presented.The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the Generalitat Valenciana for the financial support in the project CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010 (CSD2009-00050)Climent Olmedo, MJ.; Corma Canós, A.; Iborra Chornet, S. (2012). Homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts for multicomponent reactions. RSC Advances. 2(1):16-58. https://doi.org/10.1039/c1ra00807bS16582

Organocatalytic asymmetric domino Michael–Henry reaction for the synthesis of substituted bicyclo[3.2.1]octan-2-ones

This paper was submitted for publication in the journal "Chemical Communications" and the definitive version can be found at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c3cc39165eThe first organocatalytic asymmetric reaction between 1,4-cyclohexanedione and nitroalkenes have been studied, affording bicyclo[3.2.1]octane derivatives containing four continuous stereogenic centres. The products were obtained through a domino Michael-Henry process as a single diastereoisomer with excellent enantioselectivities