Tandem Regioselective Hydroformylation-Hydrogenation of Internal Alkynes Using a Supramolecular Catalyst

Remote Amino Acid Recognition Enables Effective Hydrogen Peroxide Activation at a Manganese Oxidation Catalyst

Precise delivery of a proton plays a key role in O₂ activation at iron oxygenases, enabling the crucial O−O cleavage step that generates the oxidizing high‐valent metal–oxo species. Such a proton is delivered by acidic residues that may either directly bind the iron center or lie in its second coordination sphere. Herein, a supramolecular strategy for enzyme‐like H₂O₂ activation at a biologically inspired manganese catalyst, with a nearly stoichiometric amount (1–1.5 equiv) of a carboxylic acid is disclosed. Key for this strategy is the incorporation of an α,ω‐amino acid in the second coordination sphere of a chiral catalyst via remote ammonium‐crown ether recognition. The properly positioned carboxylic acid function enables effective activation of hydrogen peroxide, leading to catalytic asymmetric epoxidation. Modulation of both amino acid and catalyst structure can tune the efficiency and the enantioselectivity of the reaction, and a study on the oxidative degradation pathway of the system is presented.

Transient Directing Groups in Metal-Organic Cooperative Catalysis

The direct functionalization of C-H bonds is among the most fundamental chemical transformations in organic synthesis. However, when the innate reactivity of the substrate cannot be utilized for the functionalization of a given single C-H bond, this selective C-H bond functionalization mostly relies on the use of directing groups that allow bringing the catalyst in close proximity to the C-H bond to be activated and these directing groups need to be installed before and cleaved after the transformation, which involves two additional undesired synthetic operations. These additional steps dramatically reduce the overall impact and the attractiveness of C-H bond functionalization techniques since classical approaches based on substrate pre-functionalization are sometimes still more straightforward and appealing. During the past decade, a different approach involving both the in situ installation and removal of the directing group, which can then often be used in a catalytic manner, has emerged: the transient directing group strategy. In addition to its innovative character, this strategy has brought C-H bond functionalization to an unprecedented level of usefulness and has enabled the development of remarkably efficient processes for the direct and selective introduction of functional groups onto both aromatic and aliphatic substrates. The processes unlocked by the development of these transient directing groups will be comprehensively overviewed in this review article.