Functional [6]Pericyclynes: Synthesis through [14+4] and [8+10] Cyclization Strategies

Steric/π-Electronic Insulation of the carbo-Benzene Ring: Dramatic Effects of tert-Butyl versus Phenyl Crowns on Geometric, Chromophoric, Redox, and Magnetic Properties

Hexa-tert-butyl-carbo-benzene (C₁₈ tBu₆ ) and three phenylated counterparts (C₁₈ tBu_m Ph_6-m ; m=4, 2) have been synthesized. The peralkylated version (m=6) provides experimental access to intrinsic features of the insulated C₁₈ core independently from the influence of π-conjugated substituent. Over the series, structural, spectroscopic, and electrochemical properties are compared with those of the hexaphenylated reference (m=0). Anchoring tBu substituents at the C₁₈ macrocycle is shown to enhance stability and solubility, and to dramatically modify UV/Vis absorption and redox properties. Whereas all carbo-benzenes reported previously were obtained as dark-reddish/greenish solids, crystals and solutions of C₁₈ tBu₆ happen to be yellow (λ_max =379 vs. 472 nm for C₁₈ Ph₆ ). In comparison to C₁₈ Ph₆ , the reduction of C₁₈ tBu₆ remains reversible, but occurs at twice as high an absolute potential (E_1/2 =-1.36 vs. -0.72 V). Systematic XRD analyses and DFT calculations show that the C₁₈ ring symmetry is the nearest to D_6h for m=6, which indicates a maximum geometric aromaticity. According to calculated nucleus-independent chemical shifts (NICS), the macrocyclic magnetic aromaticity is also maximum for C₁₈ tBu₆ : NICS(0)=-17.2 ppm versus (-18.0±0.1) ppm for the theoretical references C₁₈ H₆ and C₁₈ F₆ , and -13.5 ppm for C₁₈ Ph₆ . Accurate correlations of NICS(0) with experimentally recorded or calculated maximum UV/Vis absorption wavelengths, λ_max , and chemical hardness, η=E_LUMO -E_HOMO , are evidenced.

Selective access to p-dialkyl-carbo-benzenes from a [6]pericyclynedione: the n-butyl nucleophile model for a metal switch study

The synthesis, spectroscopic properties, comparative electrochemical behavior in CHCl3 vs CH2Cl2, and X-ray crystal structure of p-di-n-butyl-tetraphenyl-carbo-benzene are described. The selectivity of preparation of the ultimate [6]pericyclynediol precursor has been examined by comparing the reactivity of the [6]pericyclynedione substrate with four n-Bu-MXn nucleophiles involving more or less halogenated metal centers MXn (0 ≤ n ≤ 2): Li, MgBr, MgCl, CeCl2/LiCl. The cerium reagent is found to be the most efficient, giving approximately twice the yield given by Grignard reagents in the target diadduct (90% vs 51%–53%). The dibutyl-carbo-benzene product happens to be soluble in both CHCl3 and CH2Cl2: cyclic voltammograms of either solution exhibit almost identical peak potentials with reduced reversibility of the redox processes in CHCl3.

Lipidic Carbo-benzenes: Molecular Probes of Magnetic Anisotropy and Stacking Properties of α-Graphyne

Solubilization of the C₁₈ fundamental circuit of α-graphyne has been envisaged by decoration with aliphatic chains R = n-C_nH_2n+1. The synthesis and characterization of p-dialkyl-tetraphenyl-carbo-benzenes (n = 2, 8, 14, 20) are thus presented and compared to the monoalkyl series produced concomitantly. In both series, a dramatic enhancement of solubility in organic solvents (CH₂Cl₂, CHCl₃) is observed for n ≥ 8, and in the dialkyl series, the melting-decomposition temperature of the solid products is shown to decrease linearly from 208 °C for n = 2 to 149 °C for n = 20. Fluoroalkyl analogues with R = n-C₈H₄F₁₃ are also described. The products display classical UV-vis electronic spectra of carbo-benzenes in solution (λ_max = 445.5 ± 1 nm, ε ≈ 200 000 L·mol^-1·cm^-1). They are also characterized by UV-vis absorption in the solid state, which is found to be correlated with the color and crystal packing. The methylene groups of R provide an experimental probe of the magnetic anisotropy and aromaticity of the C₁₈ ring through the progressive NMR shielding of the ¹H nuclei from ca. 4.70 to 1.25 ppm going away from the border of the ring (as far as 8 Å away). All alkyl-carbo-benzenes were also found to be highly crystalline. Seven of them have been characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis and the C₁₈ columnar packing compared in a systematic manner. Crystals of the diethyl and bistetradecyl derivatives, containing no solvent molecule, provided the first examples of direct π-stacking of carbo-benzene rings, with inter-ring distances very close to calculated interlayer distances in AB and ABC α-graphityne (3.255 and 3.206 Å vs 3.266 and 3.201 Å, respectively).

Hexaaryl-carbo-benzenes revisited: a novel synthetic route, crystallographic data, and prospects of electrochemical behavior

Hexaphenyl-carbo-benzene and a substituted homologue were prepared via an efficient route, and characterized by crystallography and voltammetry with the view of studying charge transport properties within thin films.

Difluorenyl carbo-Benzenes: Synthesis, Electronic Structure, and Two-Photon Absorption Properties of Hydrocarbon Quadrupolar Chromophores

The synthesis, crystal and electronic structures, and one- and two-photon absorption properties of two quadrupolar fluorenyl-substituted tetraphenyl carbo-benzenes are described. These all-hydrocarbon chromophores, differing in the nature of the linkers between the fluorenyl substituents and the carbo-benzene core (C-C bonds for 3 a, C-C=C-C expanders for 3 b), exhibit quasi-superimposable one-photon absorption (1PA) spectra but different two-photon absorption (2PA) cross-sections σ2PA. Z-scan measurements (under NIR femtosecond excitation) indeed showed that the C≡C expansion results in an approximately twofold increase in the σ2PA value, from 336 to 656 GM (1 GM = 10(-50) cm(4) s molecule(-1) photon(-1)) at λ = 800 nm. The first excited states of Au and Ag symmetry accounting for 1PA and 2PA, respectively, were calculated at the TDDFT level of theory and used for sum-over-state estimations of σ2PA(λi), in which λi = 2 hc/Ei, h is Planck's constant, c is the speed of light, and Ei is the energy of the 2PA-allowed transition. The calculated σ2PA values of 227 GM at 687 nm for 3 a and 349 GM at 708 nm for 3 b are in agreement with the Z-scan results.

Chiral alkynylcarbinols from marine sponges: asymmetric synthesis and biological relevance

Covering: up to March 2014. Previous review on the topic: B. W. Gung, C. R. Chim., 2009, 12, 489-505. Chiral α-functional lipidic propargylic alcohols extracted from marine sponges, in particular of the pacific genus Petrosia, constitute a class of acetylenic natural products exhibiting remarkable in vitro biological activities, especially anti-tumoral cytotoxicity. These properties, associated to functionalities that are uncommon among natural products, have prompted recent projects on asymmetric total synthesis. On the basis of a three-sector structural typology, three main sub-types of secondary alkynylcarbinols (with either alkyl, alkenyl, or alkynyl as the second substituent) can be identified as the minimal pharmacophoric units. Selected natural products containing these functionalities have been targeted using previously known or on purpose-designed procedures, where the stereo-determining step can be: (i) a C-C bond forming reaction (e.g. the Zn-mediated addition of alkynyl nucleophiles to aldehydes in the presence of chiral aminoalcohols), (ii) a functional layout (e.g. the asymmetric organo- or metallo-catalytic reduction of ynones), or (iii) an enantiomeric resolution (e.g. a lipase-mediated kinetic resolution via acetylation). The promising medicinal importance of these targets is finally surveyed, and future investigation prospects are proposed, such as: (i) further total synthesis of known or future extraction products; (ii) the synthesis of non-natural analogues, with simpler lipophilic environments of the alkynylcarbinol-based pharmacophoric units; (iii) the variation and optimization of both the pharmacophoric units and their lipophilic environment; and (iv) investigations into the biological mode of action of these unique structures.

Carbo-cyclohexadienes vs. carbo-benzenes: structure and conjugative properties

Ideally Cs-/C2v-symmetric chromophores, constituted by two electro-active groups conjugated through the carbo-mer of the cyclohexa-1,3-diene core, are selectively prepared by the SnCl2-mediated reduction of tailored hexaoxy-[6]pericyclynes: in the latter substrates, one of the 1,4-dioxybut-2-yne edges is "chemically locked" by two CF3 substituents preventing complete reduction to the corresponding aromatic carbo-benzenic core, which is expected to be more "π-insulating" between the electro-active ends. The bis-trifluoromethylated carbo-cyclohexadiene products are also shown to be significantly stabilized with respect to their bis-phenylated analogues. Their structural (crystal X-ray diffraction analyses), spectroscopical (NMR and UV-vis spectra), physio-optical (dichromism in solution) and electrochemical (cyclic voltammograms) properties are compared on the basis of the electron-donating/electron-withdrawing nature of the substituents. These properties are also compared with those of their aromatic carbo-benzene and flexible carbo-n-butadiene counterparts.

First example of ring carbomer of 1,4-cyclohexadiene

While a series of carbo-mers of 1,3-cyclohexadienes was reported through the use of a specifically developed synthetic strategy, no example of their 1,4-regioisomers was known. Inspired by the methodology elaborated for the preparation of the 1,3-isomers, the synthesis of the first example of carbo-mer of 1,4-cyclohexadiene is presented. Comparison of physico-chemical properties of this first representative with those of the recently described 1,4-regioisomer, especially UV-vis absorption properties, is also addressed.

“Carbo-aromaticity” and novel carbo-aromatic compounds

Recent advances in experimental and theoretical studies ofcarbo-benzene derivatives, along with the proposition of a generalization of the definition of aromaticity to the two-membered π-rings of triple bonds, suggest relevance for the notion of “carbo-aromaticity”.

First insights into the synthesis of carbo-phospholane and carbo-phospholene oxides

Fifteen-membered ring carbo-mers of five-membered rings are considered in the heterocyclic series of the phosphole oxide and less unsaturated parents. The synthesis of the first carbo-phospholane oxides is achieved by a [14+1] two-step/one-pot macrocyclization route with 86 % yield. Reduction of the latter phosphora-[5]pericyclyne with SnCl­2 allowed consistent 1H and 31P NMR characterization of the corresponding carbo-phospholene, produced with 11 % yield. The ultimate carbo-phosphole oxide could not be isolated, but preliminary results on alternative strategies towards this 14 pz-electron Hückel carbo-aromatic are reported.

En route to a dianilinyl-substituted carbo-cyclohexadiene with promising electrical properties

The macro-aromatic carbo-benzene core para-disubstituted by 4-anilinyl groups is known to be an efficient single-molecule conductor, exhibiting a conductance of 106 nS measured by the scanning tunneling microscopy-break junction technique. The linear carbo-butadiene analogue bearing the same anilinyl substituents was found to be less efficient, with a conductance of 2.7 nS. The reason of this difference could be elucidated through the study of the charge transport properties of a cyclically locked carbo-butadiene core in a carbo-cyclohexadiene derivative. In this paper, advances in the synthesis of this challenging dianilinyl-substituted carbo-cyclohexadiene are presented.

On terminal alkynylcarbinols and derivatization thereof

The chemistry of three prototypes of secondary alkynylcarbinols (ACs), recently highlighted as challenging targets in anti-tumoral medicinal chemistry, is further documented by results on n-alkyl, alkynyl and alkenyl representatives. The N-naphthyl carbamate of an n-butyl-AC is thus characterized by X-ray crystallography. A novel dialkynylcarbinol (DAC) with synthetic potential is described, namely the highly dissymmetrical triisopropylsilyl-protected version of diethynylmethanol. The latter is shown to act as a dipolarophile in a selective Huisgen reaction with benzyl azide under CuAAC click conditions, giving an alkenyl-AC, where the alkene unsaturation is embedded in a 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazole ring, as confirmed by X-ray crystallography.

Synthesis and SAR of novel isoxazoles as potent c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) inhibitors

The design and synthesis of isoxazole 3 is described, a potent JNK inhibitor with two fold selectivity over p38. Optimization of this scaffold led to compounds 27 and 28 which showed greatly improved selectivity over p38 by maintaining the JNK3 potency of compound 3. Extensive SAR studies will be described as well as preliminary in vivo data of the two lead compounds.