Approach to a better understanding and modeling of (S)-dihydrofuran-2-yl, (S)-tetrahydrofuran-2-yl-, and furan-2-yl-β-dialkylaminoethanol ligands for enantioselective alkylation

Limitations of Trifluoromethylbenzoimidazolylbenzoic Acid as a Chiral Derivatizing Agent to Assign Absolute Configuration for β-Chiral Aminoalcohols

Axially chiral 2-(2-(trifluoromethyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-1-yl)benzoic acid (TBBA) was used as a chiral derivatizing agent to evaluate the limits of absolute configuration assignment for β-chiral aminoalcohols. Seven Boc-aminoalcohols and eight variously N-substituted (S)-phenylglycinols were prepared, and their TBBA esters were analyzed by NMR spectroscopy. Diverse substitution at the β-position was employed to demonstrate the effect of structure on the general conformational model and reliability of the absolute configuration assignment. It was concluded that hydrogen bond formation and steric hindrance were the main factors affecting the correct assignment for Boc-aminoalcohols.

Cationic copolymerization of isosorbide towards value-added poly(vinyl ethers)

Biomass-derived isosorbide (IS) was converted into a mono-glycal (i.e. vinyl ether) derivative (Gly-IS) to investigate its efficacy for cationic polymerization.

Isohexide Dinitriles: A Versatile Family of Renewable Platform Chemicals

Building blocks of isohexides extended by one carbon atom at the 2- or 5-positions are now synthetically accessible by a convenient, selective, base-catalyzed epimerization of the corresponding dinitriles. Kinetic experiments using the strong organic base 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) show that all three possible isohexide dinitrile isomers exist within a dynamic equilibrium. An epimerization mechanism based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations is proposed. Structural identification of all three possible isomers is based on NMR analysis and single crystal x-ray crystallography. DFT calculations confirm that the observed crystal structures are indeed the lowest energy conformers of these isohexide derivatives.

Trimethylsilyldiazomethane as a versatile stitching agent for the introduction of aziridines into functionalized organic molecules

A highly enantioselective route for the introduction of aziridines into functionalized organic molecules was developed via a tandem acylation and aziridination of TMSCHN(2).