A Highly Stereospecific Claisen-Sakurai Approach to Densely Functionalized Cyclopentenols

The formation of highly substituted cyclopentenols was developed using a Claisen-Sakurai reaction. Both elements of the reaction can be performed in a one-pot sequence that provides the corresponding cyclized products in high stereoselectivity. The stereochemical outcome is defined by a combination of Claisen stereospecificity and stereoelectronic effects in the Sakurai cyclization that promotes reactivity via an anti-S_E' antiperiplanar transition state. This was determined by examination of the product stereochemistry and through detailed DFT analysis.

Diastereoselective access to substituted oxetanes via hydrosilylation-iodocyclisation of homopropargylic alcohols

The regio and stereoselective hydrosilylation of a variety of homopropargylic alcohols and their derivatives is described. The reaction is tolerant to a variety of sterically and electronically varied substrates, affording only the E-vinyl silane as a sole regioisomer. The application of the resultant vinyl silanes towards the diastereoselective synthesis of tetrasubstituted oxetanes is demonstrated.

Alkenyl-Functionalized Open-Cage Silsesquioxanes (RSiMe2O)3R'7Si7O9: A Novel Class of Building Nanoblocks

Trifunctional incompletely condensed polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (RSiMe₂O)₃R′₇Si₇O₉ (IC-POSSs) are considered as intriguing building nanoblocks dedicated to constructing highly advanced organic–inorganic molecules and polymers. Up to now, they have been mainly obtained via hydrosilylation of olefins, while the hydrosilylation of the C≡C bonds has not been studied at all, despite the enormous potential of this approach resulting from the possibility of introducing 3, 6, or even more functional groups into the IC-POSS structure. Therefore, in this work, we present a highly selective and efficient synthesis of the first example of tripodal alkenyl-functionalized IC-POSSs, obtained via platinum-catalyzed hydrosilylation of the terminal and internal alkynes, as well as symmetrically and nonsymmetrically 1,4-disubstituted buta-1,3-diynes with silsesquioxanes (HSiMe₂O)₃R′₇Si₇O₉ (R′ = i-C₄H₉ (1a), (H₃C)₃CH₂C(H₃C)HCH₂C (1b)). The resulting products are synthetic intermediates that contain C=C bonds and functional groups (e.g., OSiMe₃, SiR₃, Br, F, B(O(C(CH₃)₂)₂ (Bpin)), thienyl), which make them suitable for application in the synthesis of novel, complex, hybrid materials with unique properties.

The first example of the synthesis of alkenyl-functionalized open-cage silsesquioxanes (IC-POSS) via platinum-catalyzed hydrosilylation of C−C triple bonds in alkynes and buta-1,3-diynes is presented. The optimized synthetic procedure allowed for the selective and efficient synthesis of 20 new functional molecules capable of further modification by hydrosilylation, hydroboration, or other chemical processes.

Regioselective Synthesis of Multifunctional Allylic Amines; Access to Ambiphilic Aziridine Scaffolds

We describe, for the first time, a highly regioselective hydrosilylation of propargylic amines. The reaction utilizes a PtCl₂/XantPhos catalyst system to deliver hydrosilanes across the alkyne to afford multifunctional allylic amines in high yields. The reaction is tolerant to a wide variety of functional groups and provides high value intermediates with two distinct functional handles. The synthetic applicability of the reaction has been shown through the synthesis of diverse ambiphilic aziridines.

Porous Organic Polymer as a Heterogeneous Ligand for Highly Regio- and Stereoselective Nickel-Catalyzed Hydrosilylation of Alkyne

A porous organic polymer (POL-Xantphos) was synthesized and employed as a heterogeneous ligand for selective hydrosilylation of alkynes. It exhibits high selectivity and catalytic efficiency toward a broad range of alkynes. Owing to the confinement effect of the micropore structure, POL-Xantphos was far superior to the monomeric Xantphos ligands in controlling the selectivity. By performing hydrosilylation in a flow reactor system, separation and regeneration of the Ni/POL-Xantphos catalyst are easily achieved without any loss in selectivity or activity.

Selective Hydrosilylation of Alkynes with Octaspherosilicate (HSiMe2 O)8 Si8 O12

Comprehensive studies on platinum-catalyzed hydrosilylation of a wide range of terminal and internal alkynes with spherosilicate (HSiMe2 O)8 Si8 O12 (1 a) were performed. The influence of the reaction parameters and the types of reagents and catalysts on the efficiency of the process, which enabled the creation of a versatile and selective method to synthesize olefin octafunctionalized octaspherosilicates, was studied in detail. Within this work, twenty novel 1,2-(E)-disubstituted and 1,1,2-(E)-trisubstituted alkenyl-octaspherosilicates (3 a-m, 6 n-t) were selectively obtained with high yields, and fully characterized (1 H, 13 C, 29 Si NMR, FTIR, MALDI TOF or TOF MS ES+ analysis). Moreover, the molecular structure of the compound (Me3 Si(H)C=C(H)SiMe2 O)8 Si8 O12 (3 a) was determined by X-ray crystallography for the first time. The developed procedures are the first that allow selective hydrosilylation of terminal silyl, germyl, aryl, and alkyl alkynes with 1 a, as well as the direct introduction of sixteen functional groups into the 1 a structure by the hydrosilylation of internal alkynes. This method constituted a powerful tool for the synthesis of hyperbranched compounds with a Si-O based cubic core. The resulting products, owing to their unique structure and physicochemical properties, are considered novel, multifunctional, hybrid, and nanometric building blocks, intended for the synthesis of star-shaped molecules or macromolecules, as well as nanofillers and polymer modifiers. In the presented syntheses, commercially available reagents and catalysts were used, so these methods can be easily repeated, rapidly scaled up, and widely applied.

Stereospecific Synthesis of α-Amino Allylsilane Derivatives through a [3,3]-Allyl Cyanate Rearrangement. Mild Formation of Functionalized Disiloxanes

An efficient asymmetric synthesis of α-amino allylsilane derivatives is reported. The strategy is based on a [3,3]-allyl cyanate sigmatropic rearrangement from enantioenriched γ-hydroxy alkenylsilyl compounds. The isocyanate intermediate can be trapped by several nucleophiles, opening the way for the preparation of unknown chiral functionalized compounds such as the α-ureido allylsilanes as well as carbamate derivatives. A computational study was conducted to rationalize the complete 1,3-chirality transfer of this kind of rearrangement. Moreover, starting from products bearing a phenyldimethyl silyl substituent, the α-amino silane derivatives or the corresponding disiloxanes can be obtained under hydrogenation conditions in an exclusive way according to the used catalyst.

Base-mediated cascade rearrangements of aryl-substituted diallyl ethers

Two base-mediated cascade rearrangement reactions of diallyl ethers were developed leading to selective [2,3]-Wittig-oxy-Cope and isomerization-Claisen rearrangements. Both diaryl and arylsilyl-substituted 1,3-substituted propenyl substrates were examined, and each exhibits unique reactivity and different reaction pathways. Detailed mechanistic and computational analysis was conducted, which demonstrated that the role of the base and solvent was key to the reactivity and selectivity observed. Crossover experiments also suggest that these reactions proceed with a certain degree of dissociation, and the mechanistic pathway is highly complex with multiple competing routes.

An alkyne hydrosilylation–Hiyama coupling approach to highly functionalised 1,3-dienes

A high yielding and completely stereoselective hydrosilylation–Hiyama protocol has been established for the synthesis of highly functionalised E,E-dienes.

Highly diastereoselective hydrosilylations of allylic alcohols

The highly syn-selective hydrosilylation of allylic alcohols was developed which, following oxidation, provided 1,3 alcohols containing two contiguous stereocentres. Through judicious choice of silane the complementary anti-selective hydrosilylation was also developed. This protocol was applied to the synthesis of an all syn polyketide stereotriad.

Investigating the dearomative rearrangement of biaryl phosphine-ligated Pd(II) complexes

A series of monoligated L·Pd(II)(Ar)X complexes (L = dialkyl biaryl phosphine) have been prepared and studied in an effort to better understand an unusual dearomative rearrangement previously documented in these systems. Experimental and theoretical evidence suggest a concerted process involving the unprecedented Pd(II)-mediated insertion of an aryl group into an unactivated arene.