75 Jahre Riechstoff-und Aroma-Chemie im Spiegel derHelvetica Chimica Acta.Teil II

Stereo- and Site-Selective Conversion of Primary Alcohols to Allylic Alcohols via Ruthenium-Catalyzed Hydrogen Auto-Transfer Mediated by 2-Butyne

The first enantioselective ruthenium-catalyzed carbonyl vinylations via hydrogen autotransfer are described. Using a ruthenium-JOSIPHOS catalyst, primary alcohols 2a-2m and 2-butyne 1a are converted to chiral allylic alcohols 3a-3m with excellent levels of absolute stereocontrol. Notably, 1°,2°-1,3-diols participate in site-selective C-C coupling, enabling asymmetric carbonyl vinylation beyond premetalated reagents, exogenous reductants, or hydroxyl protecting groups. Using 2-propanol as a reductant, aldehydes dehydro-2a, 2l participate in highly enantioselective 2-butyne-mediated vinylation under otherwise identical reaction conditions. Regio-, stereo-, and site-selective vinylations mediated by 2-pentyne 1b to form adducts 3n, 3o, and epi-3o also are described. The tiglyl alcohol motif obtained upon butyne-mediated vinylation, which is itself found in diverse secondary metabolites, may be converted to commonly encountered polyketide stereodiads, -triads, and -tetrads, as demonstrated by the formation of adducts 4a-4d. The collective mechanistic studies, including deuterium labeling experiments, corroborate a catalytic cycle involving alcohol dehydrogenation to form a transient aldehyde and a ruthenium hydride, which engages in alkyne hydrometalation to form a nucleophilic vinylruthenium species that enacts carbonyl addition. A stereochemical model for carbonyl addition invoking formyl CH···I[Ru] and CH···O≡C[Ru] hydrogen bonds is proposed based on prior calculations and crystallographic data.

An Enantioselective e-Nose: An Array of Nanoporous Homochiral MOF Films for Stereospecific Sensing of Chiral Odors

Chirality is essential in nature and often pivotal for biological information transfer, for example, via odor messenger molecules. While the human nose can distinguish the enantiomers of many chiral odors, the technical realization by an artificial sensor or an electronic nose, e-nose, remains a challenge. Herein, we present an array of six sensors coated with nanoporous metal-organic framework (MOF) films of different homochiral and achiral structures, working as an enantioselective e-nose. While the achiral-MOF-film sensors show identical responses for both isomers of one chiral odor molecule, the responses of the homochiral MOF films differ for different enantiomers. By machine learning algorithms, the combined array data allow the stereoselective identification of all compounds, here tested for five pairs of chiral odor molecules. We foresee the chiral-MOF-e-nose, able to enantioselectively detect and discriminate chiral odors, to be a powerful approach towards advanced odor sensing.

Ring expansion of cyclic 1,2-diols to form medium sized rings via ruthenium catalyzed transfer hydrogenative [4+2] cycloaddition

A new method for the ring expansion of cyclic diols is described. Using improved conditions for the ruthenium(0) catalyzed cycloaddition of cyclic 1,2-diols with 1,3-dienes, fused [n.4.0] bicycles (n = 3-6) are formed, which upon exposure to iodosobenzene diacetate engage in oxidative cleavage to form the 9-12 membered rings .

Synthesis of heterocyclic terpenoids by promiscuous squalene-hopene cyclases

PROMISCUOUS ENZYMES: The substrate promiscuity of squalene-hopene cyclases has been explored and applied in the enzyme-catalyzed synthesis of heterocyclic terpenoids. Features of this work include cyclization reactions without pyrophosphate activation, and stereospecific ring closure of substrates of varying chain length and terminal nucleophile. This provides a biocatalytic alternative to traditional chemical catalysts.

Controlled Release of Volatiles under Mild Reaction Conditions: From Nature to Everyday Products

Volatile organic compounds serve in nature as semiochemicals for communication between species, and are often used as flavors and fragrances in our everyday life. The quite limited longevity of olfactive perception has led to the development of pro-perfumes or pro-fragrances--ideally nonvolatile and odorless fragrance precursors which release the active volatiles by bond cleavage. Only a limited amount of reaction conditions, such as hydrolysis, temperature changes, as well as the action of light, oxygen, enzymes, or microorganisms, can be used to liberate the many different chemical functionalities. This Review describes the controlled chemical release of fragrances and discusses additional challenges such as precursor stability during product storage as well as some aspects concerning toxicity and biodegradability. As the same systems can be applied in different areas of research, the scope of this Review covers fragrance delivery as well as the controlled release of volatiles in general.