Polyketide Cyclizations for the Synthesis of Polyaromatics

Ring Rearrangement Reactions of 4-Alkenylisocoumarins and Photophysical Evaluation of Multi-Substituted Anthracene Products

Herein we report that readily available 4-alkenylisocoumarins can be regarded as potent dienolate equivalents. For example, lactol silyl ethers derived from 4-alkenylisocoumarins were selectively converted to the corresponding benzo-homophthalates through a fluoride-induced ring opening step that was followed by a ring closure through a vinylogous intramolecular aldol condensation. Likewise, nucleophilic activation of 4-alkenylisocoumarins directly yields diversely poly-substituted naphthalenes and anthracenes without formation of any regioisomer. Photophysical evaluation of a set of thus obtained 1,3-di- and 1,3,4-trisubstituted anthracenes reveals their distinct intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) character during light absorption in polar solutions and excimer emission from the solid state when a face-to-face π-stacked molecular assembly is present in the crystal packing.

Recent advances in the identification of biosynthetic genes and gene clusters of the polyketide-derived pathways for anthraquinone biosynthesis and biotechnological applications

Natural anthraquinones are represented by a large group of compounds. Some of them are widespread across the kingdoms, especially in bacteria, fungi and plants, while the others are restricted to certain groups of organisms. Despite the significant pharmacological potential of several anthraquinones (hypericin, skyrin and emodin), their biosynthetic pathways and candidate genes coding for key enzymes have not been experimentally validated. Understanding the genetic and epigenetic regulation of the anthraquinone biosynthetic gene clusters in fungal endophytes would help not only understand their pathways in plants, which ensure their commercial availability, but also favor them as promising systems for prospective biotechnological production.

Recent Progress in Cyclic Aryliodonium Chemistry: Syntheses and Applications

Hypervalent aryliodoumiums are intensively investigated as arylating agents. They are excellent surrogates to aryl halides, and moreover they exhibit better reactivity, which allows the corresponding arylation reactions to be performed under mild conditions. In the past decades, acyclic aryliodoniums are widely explored as arylation agents. However, the unmet need for acyclic aryliodoniums is the improvement of their notoriously low reaction economy because the coproduced aryl iodides during the arylation are often wasted. Cyclic aryliodoniums have their intrinsic advantage in terms of reaction economy, and they have started to receive considerable attention due to their valuable synthetic applications to initiate cascade reactions, which can enable the construction of complex structures, including polycycles with potential pharmaceutical and functional properties. Here, we are summarizing the recent advances made in the research field of cyclic aryliodoniums, including the nascent design of aryliodonium species and their synthetic applications. First, the general preparation of typical diphenyl iodoniums is described, followed by the construction of heterocyclic iodoniums and monoaryl iodoniums. Then, the initiated arylations coupled with subsequent domino reactions are summarized to construct polycycles. Meanwhile, the advances in cyclic aryliodoniums for building biaryls including axial atropisomers are discussed in a systematic manner. Finally, a very recent advance of cyclic aryliodoniums employed as halogen-bonding organocatalysts is described.

"Red Carbon": A Rediscovered Covalent Crystalline Semiconductor

Carbon suboxide (C₃ O₂ ) is a unique molecule able to polymerize spontaneously into highly conjugated light-absorbing structures at temperatures as low as 0 °C. Despite obvious advantages, little is known about the nature and the functional properties of this carbonaceous material. In this work, the aim is to bring "red carbon," a forgotten polymeric semiconductor, back to the community's attention. A solution polymerization process is adapted to simplify the synthesis and control the structure. This allows one to obtain this crystalline covalent material at low temperatures. Both spectroscopic and elemental analyses support the chemical structure represented as conjugated ladder polypyrone ribbons. Density functional theory calculations suggest a crystalline structure of AB stacks of polypyrone ribbons and identify the material as a direct bandgap semiconductor with a medium bandgap that is further confirmed by optical analysis. The material shows promising photocatalytic performance using blue light. Moreover, the simple condensation-aromatization route described here allows the straightforward fabrication of conjugated ladder polymers and can be inspiring for the synthesis of carbonaceous materials at low temperatures in general.

Small molecules as modulators of regulated cell death against ischemia/reperfusion injury

Ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury contributes to disability and mortality worldwide. Due to the complicated mechanisms and lack of proper therapeutic targets, few interventions are available that specifically target the pathogenesis of IR injury. Regulated cell death (RCD) of endothelial and parenchymal cells is recognized as the promising intervening target. Recent advances in IR injury suggest that small molecules exhibit beneficial effects on various RCD against IR injury, including apoptosis, necroptosis, autophagy, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, and parthanatos. Here, we describe the mechanisms behind these novel promising therapeutic targets and explain the machinery powering the small molecules. These small molecules exert protection by targeting endothelial or parenchymal cells to alleviate IR injury. Therapies of the ideal combination of small molecules targeting multiple cell types have shown potent synergetic therapeutic effects, laying the foundation for novel strategies to attenuate IR injury.

Cascade aryne insertion/vinylogous aldol reaction of vinyl-substituted β-keto/enol carbonyls

Cyclic and acyclic vinyl substituted β-keto/enol carbonyl substrates, on reaction with arynes, result in differentially substituted naphthyl carbocycles, hitherto difficult to synthesize with existing protocols. While the substitutions on the arynes have no role, the ring size of the cyclic β-keto/enol esters has a profound influence on the product formation.

Regioselective Synthesis of 4-Aryl-1,3-dihydroxy-2-naphthoates through 1,2-Aryl-Migrative Ring Rearrangement Reaction and their Photoluminescence Properties

4-Aryl-1,3-dihydroxy-2-naphthoates having the less accessible 1,2,3,4-tetrasubstituted naphthalene scaffold and that show photoluminescence emission from solid state as well as in solutions, were selectively synthesized from brominated lactol silyl ethers through the 1,2-aryl-migrative ring rearrangement reaction.

Catalyst Control over Twofold and Higher-Order Stereogenicity by Atroposelective Arene Formation

Contradictory to the first intuitive impression that forging putatively flat aromatic rings evades stereoisomerism, a striking variety of atropisomeric compounds are conceivable by the formation of arenes, offering captivating avenues for catalyst-controlled stereoselective strategies. Since the assembled atropisomeric products that contain one or several rotationally restricted single bonds are characterized by especially well defined molecular architectures, they are distinctly suitable for numerous pertinent applications. In view of the fascinating arene-forming aldol condensation pathways taking place in polyketide biosynthesis (cyclases/aromatases (CYC/ARO)), the versatile small-molecule-catalyzed aldol reaction appeared as an exceptionally appealing synthetic means to prepare various unexplored atropisomeric compounds in our efforts presented herein. In our initial studies, the use of secondary amine organocatalysts provided excellent selectivities in stereoselective arene-forming aldol condensations for a broad range of atropisomeric products, such as biaryls and rotationally restricted aromatic amides. In further analogy to polyketide biosynthesis, it was also conceivable that several aromatic rings are formed in catalytic cascade reactions. The use of small-molecule catalysts thereby enabled us to transfer this concept to the conversion of unnatural and noncanonical polyketide substrates, thus giving access to atropisomers with particular value for synthetic applications. The versatility of the stereoselective aldol reactions with numerous catalytic activation modes further provided a strategy to individually control several stereogenic axes, similar to the various methodologies developed for controlling stereocenter configurations. By the use of iterative building block additions combined with catalyst-controlled aldol reactions to form the aromatic rings, stereodivergent pathways for catalyst-substrate-matched and -mismatched products were obtained. Besides secondary amines, cinchona-alkaloid-based quaternary ammonium salts also proved to be highly efficient in overcoming severe substrate bias. The obtained atropisomeric multiaxis systems, with all of the biaryl bonds suitably restricted in rotation even at high temperatures, are spatially distinctly defined. The helical secondary structure is therefore excellently suited for several captivating applications.While previous catalyst-controlled stereoselective methods distinguish two stereoisomers for each stereogenic unit, catalyst control beyond the realms of this dualistic stereoisomerism remained unexplored. By the selective preparation of O̅ki atropisomers characterized by their sixfold stereogenicity in Rh-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 2] cyclotrimerizations, one out of the six possible stereoisomers resulting from the restricted rotation of a single bond was shown to be catalytically addressable. Catalyst control over higher-order stereogenicity therefore further interconnects conformational analysis and stereoselective catalysis and offers captivating avenues to explore uncharted stereochemical space for creating a broad range of unprecedented molecular motifs.

Modular synthesis of oligoacetylacetones via site-selective silylation of acetylacetone derivatives

Aliphatic oligoketones with tailored carbonyl and substituent sequences were modularly synthesized utilizing site-selective formation of enol silyl ethers. Their unique conformational preferences in solid-state were revealed by X-ray crystallography.