Exploring the Influence of the Phosphorus-Heteroatom Substitution in Nicotine on Its Electronic and Vibrational Spectroscopic Properties

The influence of phosphorus substitution of nitrogen in heterocyclic compounds on the vibrational spectroscopy as well as frontier molecular orbitals are analyzed. Nicotine with two nitrogen atoms in its structure is taken as the sample system to be studied computationally. By replacing the nitrogen atom in one or both rings of this molecule with phosphorus, three nicotine derivatives are created. The vibrational circular dichroism and infrared spectra of these four molecules in their monomer state, as well as the assemblies up to trimers are determined. The aforementioned spectra are calculated using static quantum chemical calculations employing a cluster-weighted approach. The calculated gas phase spectra of nicotine are compared to their respective experimental spectra. It is observed that the nicotine derivatives with phosphorus in the methylpyrrolidine ring have considerably different gas phase and bulk phase vibrational circular dichroism spectra when compared to nicotine. The phosphorus substitution reduces the energy gap between the highest occupied molecular orbital and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital as well as altering the polarizability and reactivity of the investigated molecules.

Access to Enantiomerically Pure P-Chiral 1-Phosphanorbornane Silyl Ethers

Sulfur-protected enantiopure P-chiral 1-phosphanorbornane silyl ethers 5a,b are obtained in high yields via the reaction of the hydroxy group of P-chiral 1-phosphanorbornane alcohol 4 with tert-butyldimethylsilyl chloride (TBDMSCl) and triphenylsilyl chloride (TPSCl). The corresponding optically pure silyl ethers 5a,b are purified via crystallization and fully structurally characterized. Desulfurization with excess Raney nickel gives access to bulky monodentate enantiopure phosphorus(III) 1-phosphanorbornane silyl ethers 6a,b which are subsequently applied as ligands in iridium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of a prochiral ketone and enamide. Better activity and selectivity were observed in the latter case.

Facile Synthesis of Enantiomerically Pure P-Chiral 1-Alkoxy-2,3-dihydrophospholes via Nucleophilic P-N Bond Cleavage of a 1-Phospha-2-azanorbornene

The reactive P-N bond in a racemic mixture of endo-1-phospha-2-azanorbornene (PAN) (RP /SP )-endo-1 is readily cleaved with enantiomerically pure lithium alkoxides followed by protonation to afford diastereomeric mixtures of P-chiral 1-alkoxy-2,3-dihydrophosphole derivatives. The isolation of these compounds is rather challenging due to the reversibility of the reaction (elimination of alcohols). However, methylation of the sulfonamide moiety of the intermediate lithium salts and sulfur protection of the phosphorus atom prevent the elimination reaction. The resulting air-stable P-chiral diastereomeric 1-alkoxy-2,3-dihydrophosphole sulfide mixtures can be readily isolated and fully characterized. The diastereomers can be separated by crystallization. The 1-alkoxy-2,3-dihydrophosphole sulfides are readily reduced with Raney nickel to afford phosphorus(III) P-stereogenic 1-alkoxy-2,3-dihydrophospholes with potential use in asymmetric homogeneous transition metal catalysis.

Non-conventional Behavior of a 2,1-Benzazaphosphole: Heterodiene or Hidden Phosphinidene?

The titled 2,1-benzazaphosphole (1) (i. e. ArP, where Ar=2-(DippN=CH)C6 H4 , Dipp=2,6-iPr2 C6 H3 ) showed a spectacular reactivity behaving both as a reactive heterodiene in hetero-Diels-Alder (DA) reactions or as a hidden phosphinidene in the coordination toward selected transition metals (TMs). Thus, 1 reacts with electron-deficient alkynes RC≡CR (R=CO2 Me, C5 F4 N) giving 1-phospha-1,4-dihydro-iminonaphthalenes 2 and 3, that undergo hydrogen migration producing 1-phosphanaphthalenes 4 and 5. Compound 1 is also able to activate the C=C double bond in selected N-alkyl/aryl-maleimides RN(C(O)CH)2 (R=Me, tBu, Ph) resulting in the addition products 7-9 with bridged bicyclic [2.2.1] structures. The binding of the maleimides to 1 is semi-reversible upon heating. By contrast, when 1 was treated with selected TM complexes, it serves as a 4e donor bridging two TMs thus producing complexes [μ-ArP(AuCl)2 ] (10), [(μ-ArP)4 Ag4 ][X]4 (X=BF4 (11), OTf (12)) and [μ-ArP(Co2 (CO)6 )] (13). The structure and electron distribution of the starting material 1 as well as of other compounds were also studied from the theoretical point of view.

Topologically diverse polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from pericyclic reactions with polyaromatic phospholes

Topologically divers PAHs with planar, twisted and negatively curved topologies were obtained from polycyclic phospholes using pericyclic reactions.

P-Chiral 1,7-diphosphanorbornenes: from asymmetric phospha-Diels-Alder reactions towards applications in asymmetric catalysis

A straightforward synthesis of P-chiral polycyclic phosphines by an asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction of 1-alkyl-1,2-diphospholes and (5R)-(l-menthyloxy)-2(5H)-furanone (MOxF) is presented. The [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of 1,2-diphospholes 1-3 with MOxF (4) proceeded with high diastereoselectivity (de up to 90%) resulting in the corresponding enantiopure anti-endo-1,7-diphosphanorbornenes 5a-7a. The absolute configuration of 5-7 was proved by a variety of 1D/2D NMR correlation methods. The use of the anti-endo-1,7-diphosphanorbornene 5a in the Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation of cinnamyl acetate 8 with cyclic β-ketoesters 9a,b provided up to 52% ee.

[​4+2] versus [​2+2] Homodimerization in P(V) Derivatives of 2,4-Disubstituted Phospholes

Phosphole P(V) derivatives are interesting building blocks for various applications from ligand synthesis to material sciences. We herein describe the preparation and characterisation of new 2,4-disubstituted oxo-, thiooxo-, and selenooxophospholes. The nature of the substituents on the phosphole ring determines the reactivity of these compounds towards homodimerization reactions. Aryl and trimethylsilyl substituted oxophospholes undergo selective [4+2] dimerization, whereas, for thiooxo- and selenooxophospholes, light-induced, selective [2+2] head-to-head dimerization occurs in the case of aryl substituents. DFT calculations provide some insights on these differences in reactivity.

A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Study on the Reaction Mechanism and Molecular Structure of 4-(Diphenylamino)-3-iodo-2(5H)-furanone

The simultaneous α-iodination and Nβ-arylation mechanism of 5-alkyloxy-4-phenylamino-2(5H)-furanone by (diacetoxyiodo)benzene was investigated by means of density functional theory (DFT) with B3LYP/6-31G*//LANL2DZ, selecting 4-(diphenylamino)-5-methyloxy-3-iodo-2(5H)-furanone as the calculation model. In addition, the effect of solvent on the reaction pathway was investigated using the Polarisable Continuum Model (PCM). Good agreement was found between the computational and the experimental results. Furthermore, single crystals of 4-(diphenylamino)-5-ethoxy-3-iodo-2(5H)-furanone were grown by slow evaporation technique. The molecular structure analysis was performed by single crystal X-ray analysis and theoretical calculations using a semi-empirical quantum chemical method and DFT/B3LYP methods with a LANL2DZ as basis set.

P-chiral 1-phosphanorbornenes: from asymmetric phospha-Diels–Alder reactions towards ligand design and functionalisation

A building set for chiral phosphorus. The principle of stereotopic face differentiation is successfully applied to a PC bond. A divergent ligand synthesis is feasible after reduction of the chiral auxiliary.