Design of CO2 hydrogenation catalysts based on phosphane/borane frustrated Lewis pairs and xanthene-derived scaffolds

UK Catalysis Hub is kindly thanked for resources and support provided via our membership of the UK Catalysis Hub Consortium and funded by EPSRC grant: EP/R026939/1, EP/R026815/1, EP/R026645/1, EP/R027129/1, and EP/M013219/1. J.W.M.C. acknowledges financial support from FAPERJ (grants E-26/203.001/2017, E-26/010.101118/2018, and E-26010.001424/2019) and CNPq (grants 309080/2015-0 and 434955/2018-3). M.B. thanks the School of Chemistry in St Andrews and EaStCHEM for support.New naphtho[2,1,8,7-klmn]xanthene and benzo[kl]xanthene-based intramolecular phosphane–borane frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) were investigated in catalyzed H2 activation and CO2 hydrogenation processes. According to DFT predictions at the B3LYP-D3 level, the presence of rigid scaffolds and increased P···B distances in the investigated FLPs lead to a remarkable drop in the energy barrier for CO2 hydrogenation (by up to 19.2 kcal mol−1, compared to the parent dimethylxanthene-based FLP). Furthermore, the energy differences between the transition states for H2 activation and CO2 hydrogenation are significantly reduced, making both processes feasible under relatively mild experimental conditions.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A DFT study on the mechanism for polymerization of δ-valerolactone initiated by N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalysts

Polymerization reactions using renewable raw material as substrate (namely, δ-valerolactone) and N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) as organocatalysts to form polyesters were investigated by computational approaches. Two routes were investigated for the reaction, either with the NHC acting as a Brønsted base and activating an alcohol used as co-initiator or by direct nucleophilic attack of the NHC on the carbonyl carbon of the lactone, forming a zwitterionic intermediate. In agreement with previous studies, the lowest energy pathway leading to polymerization is that where the NHC activates the alcohol co-initiator, yielding a partially charged alkoxide that then performs a nucleophilic attack on the lactone. The proton affinity of the NHCs shows a high correlation with the activation enthalpy for the first reaction step. Thus, NHCs with high proton affinity stabilize the first intermediate and make the lactone ring-opening the rate-determining step for the reaction

Synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity of two novel cis-dioxovanadium(v) complexes: [VO2(L)] and [VO2(Hlox)]

Two novel complexes, [VO2(L)] (1) and [VO2(HLox)] (2), were synthesized and characterized by IV, UV-Vis and NMR spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, elemental analysis and X-ray diffraction. The synthesis of a new ligand, H2Lox, is also described. Complexes 1 and 2 were obtained by the reaction of [VO(acac)2] with the ligands HL and H2Lox, respectively. Alternatively, 2 was also obtained by the reaction of HL with [VO(acac)2] in the presence of hydroxylamine, and by the reaction of 1 with hydroxylamine. Crystallographic data show that complexes 1 and 2 have similar molecular structures, in which the cis-dioxovanadium(V) center is coordinated to L- or HLox-, respectively, in a distorted octahedral environment. The catalytic activity of these compounds towards cyclohexane oxidation was evaluated using H2O2 and t-BuOOH as oxidants. Both complexes presented > 70% selectivity for cyclohexylhydroperoxide formation. B3LYP/6-31G(d) calculations were used to confirm the geometry and to help assign the electronic spectra

A stereoselective, base-free, palladium-catalyzed heck coupling between 3-halo-1,4-naphthoquinones and vinyl-1H-1,2,3-triazoles

A stereoselective, base-free Heck coupling between 1,4-naphthoquinone and 1H-1,2,3-triazole derivatives was reported for the first time. This study shows that depending on the 1,4-naphthoquinone, the use of an additional base is unnecessary to produce the naphthoquinone-triazole conjugates. This is also the first example of a Heck coupling of these two cores without using a base as an additive. In this work, sixteen new naphthoquinone-triazole hybrids were stereoselectively synthetized in good to excellent yields. The reaction mechanism was discussed based on DFT CAM−B3LYP calculations. The first step is the coordination of the arene to the palladium catalyst to form a palladacycle intermediate. After reorganization in this intermediate, the double bond in the arene is restored to proceed with the coupling step and formation of the C−C bond in the rate determining step. The Kozuchi-Shaik span model was employed to rationalize substituent effects

Novel 2-(R-phenyl)amino-3-(2-methylpropenyl)-[1,4]-naphthoquinones: synthesis, characterization, electrochemical behavior and antitumor activity

Novel 2-(R-phenyl)amino-3-(2-methyl-propenyl)-[1,4]-naphthoquinones (R = H, 4-OMe, 4-Ferrocenyl, 4-Me, 3-Me, 4-I, 3-I, 4-CN, 3-CN, 4-NO2 and 3-NO2) derived from nor-lapachol [2-hydroxy-3-(2-methylpropenyl)-1,4-naphthoquinone] were obtained in good yields. Their structures were proposed on the basis of a single crystal X-ray diffraction study (R = OMe, 2b), ¹H and 13C NMR studies and calculations using the B3LYP functional and the 6-311+G(2d,p) basis set. The half-wave potentials of the aminonaphthoquinones and ¹H NMR chemical shifts of the 3-propenyl hydrogen in 2a-k show good correlation with the substituent Hammett constants on the phenylamino ring. The antitumor assays showed promising activity for substrate methoxy-nor-lapachol 1 and the 4-ferrocenyl derivative 2c.Novas 2-(R-fenil)amino-3-(2-metilpropenil)-[1,4]-naftoquinonas (R = H, 4-OMe, 4-Ferrocenil, 4-Me, 3-Me, 4-I, 3-I, 4-CN, 3-CN, 4-NO2 e 3-NO2) derivadas do nor-lapachol [2-hidroxi-3-(2-metilpropenil)-1,4-naftoquinona] foram obtidas em bons rendimentos. A estrutura dos compostos foi proposta com base em estudos de difração de raios-X (R = OMe, 2b), dados de RMN de ¹H e 13C e cálculos teóricos utilizando o funcional B3LYP e a base 6-311+G(2d,p). Os potenciais de meia-onda das aminonaftoquinonas e o deslocamento químico do hidrogênio da cadeia 3-propenil dos compostos 2a-k mostraram boa correlação com as constantes de Hammett dos substituintes presentes no anel fenileno. A avaliação da citotoxicidade evidenciou atividade antitumoral promissora para o substrato metóxi-nor-lapachol 1 e o derivado 4-ferrocenil 2c.169178Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Ab Initio, DFT and semi-empirical studies on interactions of phosphoryl, carbonyl, imino and thiocarbonyl ligands with the li+ cation: affinity and associated parameters

The affinity of the Li+ cation for a set of para-substituted phosphoryl, carbonyl, imino and thiocarbonyl ligands was calculated with the ab initio MP2/6-311+G(d,p), DFT B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) and semi-empirical PM6 methods. Each set of ligand is constituted by the following para-substituted groups: NH2, OCH3, CH3, H, Cl, CN and NO2. The interaction enthalpy was calculated to quantify the affinity of the ligands for the Li+ cation. Geometric and electronic parameters were correlated with the strength of the metal-ligand interaction. The electronic nature of the para-substituted group is the main parameter that modulates the intensity of the metal-ligand binding energy. Electron donor groups make the interaction enthalpy more exothermic, whereas electron acceptor groups make the interaction enthalpy less exothermic. The energy decomposition analysis shows that the para-substituted groups modulate the intensity of the electrostatic component of the interaction without affecting the covalent component

Natural polyprenylated benzophenone: keto-enol tautomerism from density functional calculations and the AIM theory

The quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations were employed to investigate the structure and tautomeric equilibrium of epiclusianone, a polyisoprenylated benzophenone with interesting biological activities. Two different exchange-correlation functionals were employed, namely ωB97x-D and M06-2x, including implicit solvent models (benzene and DMSO). Our results for the thermodynamic properties show that the isomer in which the H atom is bonded to the oxygen away from the benzene ring is the most stable tautomer form of the epiclusianone, thus confirming previous charge density analysis from X-ray diffraction data (Martins et al. J Braz Chem Soc 18(8):1515–1523, 2007)