pH-Responsive Ruthenium-Based Olefin Metathesis Catalysts: Controlled Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization in Alcoholic and Aqueous Media upon Acid Addition

Grubbs-Hoveyda catalysts conjugated to a β-barrel protein: Effect of halide substitution on aqueous olefin metathesis activity

The effect of halide substitution in Grubbs-Hoveyda II catalysts (GHII catalysts) embedded in the engineered β-barrel protein nitrobindin (NB4exp) on metathesis activity in aqueous media was studied. Maleimide tagged dibromido and diiodido derivates of the GHII catalyst were synthesized and covalently conjugated to NB4exp. The biohybrid catalysts were characterized spectroscopically confirming the structural integrity. When the two chloride substituents at ruthenium center were exchanged against bromide and iodide, the diiodo derivative was found to show significantly higher catalytic activity in ring-closing metathesis of α,ω-diolefins, whereas the dibromido derivative was less efficient when compared with the parent dichlorido catalyst. Using the diiodido catalyst, high turnover numbers of up to 75 were observed for ring-closing metathesis (RCM) yielding unsaturated six- and seven-membered N-heterocycles.

Light-Promoted Basic Nitrogen Unmasking in Arene Ruthenium Complexes Derived from Z-Configured 2,2'-Azobispyridine

Two novel 2,2'-azobispyridine derivatives bearing N-dialkylamino substituents at position 4,4' were synthesized and their E-Z photoswitching behavior was characterized by combination of 1 H- and 13 C NMR spectroscopy, UV-Vis absorption and DFT calculations. Both isomers act as ligands towards arene-RuII centers, leading either to E-configured 5-membered chelates (involving coordination of nitrogen atoms from N=N bond and pyridine) or to the uncommon Z-configured 7-membered chelates (involving coordination of nitrogen atoms from both pyridines). The latter show good stability in the dark, allowing single crystal X-ray diffraction study to be reported here for the first time. All synthesized Z-configured arene-RuII complexes undergo irreversible photo-isomerization to their corresponding E isomers with rearrangement of their coordination pattern. This property was advantageously exploited for the light-promoted unmasking of a basic nitrogen atom of the ligand.

Supramolecular Control of the Oxidative Addition as a Way To Improve the Catalytic Efficiency of Pincer-Rhodium (I) Complexes

1 H NMR studies using a cationic complex with a pyridine-di-imidazolylidene pincer ligand of formula [Rh(CNC)(CO)]+ revealed that this compound showed high binding affinity with coronene in CH2 Cl2 . The interaction between coronene and the planar RhI complex is established by means of π-stacking interactions. This interaction has a strong impact on the electron-donating strength of the pincer CNC ligand, which is increased significantly, as demonstrated by the shifting of the ν(CO) stretching bands to lower frequencies. The addition of coronene increases the reaction rate of the nucleophilic attack of methyl iodide on the rhodium (I) pincer complex, and also has a positive effect on the performance of the complex as a catalyst in the cycloisomerization of 4-pentynoic acid. These findings highlight the importance of supramolecular interactions for tuning the reactivity and catalytic activity of square-planar metal complexes.

Electronic Influences on the Dynamic Range of Photoswitchable Dithienylethene-Thiourea Organocatalysts

Thiourea-based organocatalysts bearing a photoswitchable dithienylethene (DTE) core and a wide range of substituents were prepared and extensively tested for their ability to accelerate the Michael reaction between acetylacetone and trans-β-nitrostyrene. There is a strong correlation between the Hammett parameter of the modulating groups and catalytic activity following UV irradiation. Electron-withdrawing groups afford the largest reactivity difference between the catalysts in their ring-open form and their ring-closed isomer, with evidence for electronic coupling between the two halves in both oDTE and cDTE.

Redox-Switchable Cycloisomerization of Alkynoic Acids with Napthalenediimide-Derived N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes

Two naphthalene-diimide (NDI) bis-imidazolium salts have been used as N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) precursors for the preparation of NDI-functionalized complexes of rhodium and iridium of general formula [MCl(NDI-NHC)(COD)] (M=Rh, Ir; NDI-NHC=NDI-functionalized NHC ligand). Comparison of the IR spectra of the complexes [IrCl(NDI-NHC)(CO)2 ] and their related one- and two-electron reduced forms, reveal that each one-electron reduction produces a decrease of the average ν(CO) of 9-10 cm-1 , indicating a significant enhancement of the electron-richness of the metal. The [MCl(NDI-NHC)(COD)] complexes were tested in the catalytic cycloisomerization of alkynoic acids. The one-electron reduced forms showed greatly enhanced activities. For the cyclization of 5-hexynoic acid, the two-electron reduction of the ligand produced further enhancement of the catalytic activity, therefore showing that the catalyst can switch between three redox species with three distinct catalytic activities.

It is Better with Salt: Aqueous Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization at Neutral pH

Aqueous ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) is a powerful tool for polymer synthesis under environmentally friendly conditions, functionalization of biomacromolecules, and preparation of polymeric nanoparticles via ROMP-induced self-assembly (ROMPISA). Although new water-soluble Ru-based metathesis catalysts have been developed and evaluated for their efficiency in mediating cross metathesis (CM) and ring-closing metathesis (RCM) reactions, little is known with regards to their catalytic activity and stability during aqueous ROMP. Here, we investigate the influence of solution pH, the presence of salt additives, and catalyst loading on ROMP monomer conversion and catalyst lifetime. We find that ROMP in aqueous media is particularly sensitive to chloride ion concentration and propose that this sensitivity originates from chloride ligand displacement by hydroxide or H2O at the Ru center, which reversibly generates an unstable and metathesis inactive complex. The formation of this Ru-(OH)n complex not only reduces monomer conversion and catalyst lifetime but also influences polymer microstructure. However, we find that the addition of chloride salts dramatically improves ROMP conversion and control. By carrying out aqueous ROMP in the presence of various chloride sources such as NaCl, KCl, or tetrabutylammonium chloride, we show that diblock copolymers can be readily synthesized via ROMPISA in solutions with high concentrations of neutral H2O (i.e., 90 v/v%) and relatively low concentrations of catalyst (i.e., 1 mol %). The capability to conduct aqueous ROMP at neutral pH is anticipated to enable new research avenues, particularly for applications in biological media, where the unique characteristics of ROMP provide distinct advantages over other polymerization strategies.

Optimization of Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization (ROMP) under Physiologically Relevant Conditions

Ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) is widely considered an excellent living polymerization technique that proceeds rapidly under ambient conditions and is highly functional group tolerant when performed in organic solvents. However, achieving the same level of success in aqueous media has proved to be challenging, often requiring an organic co-solvent or a very low pH to obtain fast initiation and high monomer conversion. The ability to efficiently conduct ROMP under neutral pH aqueous conditions would mark an important step towards utilizing aqueous ROMP with acid-sensitive functional groups or within a biological setting. Herein we describe our efforts to optimize ROMP in an aqueous environment under neutral pH conditions. Specifically, we found that the presence of excess chloride in solution as well as relatively small changes in pH near physiological conditions have a profound effect on molecular weight control, polymerization rate and overall monomer conversion. Additionally, we have applied our optimized conditions to polymerize a broad scope of water-soluble monomers and used this methodology to produce nanostructures via ring opening metathesis polymerization induced self-assembly (ROMPISA) under neutral pH aqueous conditions.

A logic gate for external regulation of photopolymerization

The use of photocatalysts for visible light mediated reversible deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) provides an efficient route for the synthesis of well-defined polymers with spatial, temporal and sequence control.

Hexacoordinate Ru-based olefin metathesis catalysts with pH-responsive N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) and N-donor ligands for ROMP reactions in non-aqueous, aqueous and emulsion conditions

Three new ruthenium alkylidene complexes (PCy₃)Cl₂(H₂ITap)Ru=CHSPh (9), (DMAP)₂Cl₂(H₂ITap)Ru=CHPh (11) and (DMAP)₂Cl₂(H₂ITap)Ru=CHSPh (12) have been synthesized bearing the pH-responsive H₂ITap ligand (H₂ITap = 1,3-bis(2’,6’-dimethyl-4’-dimethylaminophenyl)-4,5-dihydroimidazol-2-ylidene). Catalysts 11 and 12 are additionally ligated by two pH-responsive DMAP ligands. The crystal structure was solved for complex 12 by X-ray diffraction. In organic, neutral solution, the catalysts are capable of performing standard ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) and ring closing metathesis (RCM) reactions with standard substrates. The ROMP with complex 11 is accelerated in the presence of two equiv of H₃PO₄, but is reduced as soon as the acid amount increased. The metathesis of phenylthiomethylidene catalysts 9 and 12 is sluggish at room temperature, but their ROMP can be dramatically accelerated at 60 °C. Complexes 11 and 12 are soluble in aqueous acid. They display the ability to perform RCM of diallylmalonic acid (DAMA), however, their conversions are very low amounting only to few turnovers before decomposition. However, both catalysts exhibit outstanding performance in the ROMP of dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) and mixtures of DCPD with cyclooctene (COE) in acidic aqueous microemulsion. With loadings as low as 180 ppm, the catalysts afforded mostly quantitative conversions of these monomers while maintaining the size and shape of the droplets throughout the polymerization process. Furthermore, the coagulate content for all experiments stayed <2%. This represents an unprecedented efficiency in emulsion ROMP based on hydrophilic ruthenium alkylidene complexes.

Protein ROMP: Aqueous Graft-from Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization

Ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) was carried out from the surface of a protein under aqueous conditions. Grubbs' third generation catalyst was modified with PEGylated pyridyl groups to form a water-soluble species that showed high activity in aqueous buffered solutions at near-neutral pH. The modification of a protein with this catalyst to create a stable macroinitiator for ROMP is described. The protein macroinitiator was then used to polymerize water-soluble norbornenes, resulting in high molecular weight protein/polymer conjugates. Varying polymerization time and monomer concentration demonstrated the kinetics of molecular weight evolution and macroinitiator conversion of graft-from ROMP.

Engineering the pH-responsive catalytic behavior of AuNPs by DNA

Noble metal nanoparticles have attracted much interest in the heterogeneous catalysis. Particularly, efficient manipulation of the responsive catalytic properties of the metal nanoparticles is an interesting topic. In this work, a simple and efficient strategy is developed to regulate the pH-responsive catalytic activities of glucose oxidase (GOx)-mimicking gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Four DNA strands (regulating strands) that differ slightly in sequences are used to interact non-covalently with citrate-capped AuNPs, resulting in markedly distinct pH-dependent catalytic behavior of AuNPs. This is ascribed to the characteristic pH-induced conformational change of the DNA strands that leads to the different adsorption capability to the NPs surface, as demonstrated by pH-CD profiles of the respective DNA molecules. The pH-dependent catalysis of AuNPs is also encoded with structural information of the double-stranded DNA (including regulating strands and their complementary strands) that has conformation resistant or responsive to pH change. As a result, the catalysis can be programmed into an AND gate, a XNOR gate or a NOT gate, using pH and complementary strand as the inputs, the nanoparticle activity as the output and the regulating strands as the programs. This work can be expanded by engineering the catalytic behavior of noble metal nanoparticles to respond smartly to a variety of environmental stimuli, such as metal ions or light wavelengths. These results may provide insight into understanding ligand-regulated nanometallic catalysis.

Tris-[4-(di-methyl-amino)-pyridine][tris(pyra-zol-1-yl)methane]--ruthenium(II) bis-(hexa-fluorido-phosphate) diethyl ether monosolvate

In the title compound, [Ru(C₁₀H₁₀N₆)(C₇H₁₀N₂)₃](PF₆)₂·C₄H₁₀O, the Ru^II cation is coordinated by one tris­(1-pyrazol­yl)methane (Tpm) and three dimethylaminopyridine (dmap) ligands in a slightly distorted octa­hedral geometry. The asymmetric unit consists of one complex cation, two hexa­fluorido­phosphate anions and one diethyl ether solvent mol­ecule in general positions. Although quite a large number of ruthenium complexes of the facially coordinating tridentate Tpm ligand have been structurally characterized, this is only the second one containing three pyridyl co-ligands. The average Ru—N(Tpm) distance is 2.059 (12) Å, while the average Ru—N(dmap) [dmap = 4-(di­methyl­amino)­pyridine] distance is somewhat longer at 2.108 (13) Å. The orientation of the dmap ligands varies greatly, with dihedral angles between the pyridyl and opposite pyrazolyl rings of 14.3 (2), 23.2 (2) and 61.2 (2)°.

Manipulating micellar environments for enhancing transition metal-catalyzed cross-couplings in water at room temperature

The remarkable effects of added salts on the properties of aqueous micelles derived from the amphiphile PTS are described. Most notably, Heck reactions run in the presence of NaCl lead to couplings on aryl bromides in water at room temperature. Olefin cross- and ring-closing metathesis reactions run in the presence of small amounts of pH-lowering KHSO(4) are also accelerated, another phenomenon that does not apply to typical processes in organic media. These salt effects allow, in general, for synthetically valuable C-C bond-forming processes to be conducted under environmentally benign conditions. Recycling of the surfactant is also demonstrated.

Protonolysis of a ruthenium-carbene bond and applications in olefin metathesis

The synthesis of a ruthenium complex containing an N-heterocylic carbene (NHC) and a mesoionic carbene (MIC) is described wherein addition of a Brønsted acid results in protonolysis of the Ru-MIC bond to generate an extremely active metathesis catalyst. Mechanistic studies implicated a rate-determining protonation step in the generation of the metathesis-active species. The activity of the NHC/MIC catalyst was found to exceed those of current commercial ruthenium catalysts.