Highly Selective and Catalytic Oxygenations of C-H and C=C Bonds by a Mononuclear Nonheme High-Spin Iron(III)-Alkylperoxo Species

The reactivity of a mononuclear high-spin iron(III)-alkylperoxo intermediate [Fe^III (t-BuL^Urea )(OOCm)(OH₂ )]²⁺ (2), generated from [Fe^II (t-BuL^Urea )(H₂ O)(OTf)](OTf) (1) [t-BuL^Urea =1,1'-(((pyridin-2-ylmethyl)azanediyl)bis(ethane-2,1-diyl))bis(3-(tert-butyl)urea), OTf=trifluoromethanesulfonate] with cumyl hydroperoxide (CmOOH), toward the C-H and C=C bonds of hydrocarbons is reported. 2 oxygenates the strong C-H bonds of aliphatic substrates with high chemo- and stereoselectivity in the presence of 2,6-lutidine. While 2 itself is a sluggish oxidant, 2,6-lutidine assists the heterolytic O-O bond cleavage of the metal-bound alkylperoxo, giving rise to a reactive metal-based oxidant. The roles of the urea groups on the supporting ligand, and of the base, in directing the selective and catalytic oxygenation of hydrocarbon substrates by 2 are discussed.

Multicomponent solid forms of the uric acid reabsorption inhibitor lesinurad and cocrystal polymorphs with urea: DFT simulation and solubility study

Lesinurad (systematic name: 2-{[5-bromo-4-(4-cyclopropylnaphthalen-1-yl)-4H-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl]sulfanyl}acetic acid, C₁₇H₁₄BrN₃O₂S) is a selective uric acid reabsorption inhibitor related to gout, which exhibits poor aqueous solubility. High-throughput solid-form screening was performed to screen for new solid forms with improved pharmaceutically relevant properties. During polymorph screening, we obtained two solvates with methanol (CH₃OH) and ethanol (C₂H₅OH). Binary systems with caffeine (systematic name: 3,7-dihydro-1,3,7-trimethyl-1H-purine-2,6-dione, C₈H₁₀N₄O₂) and nicotinamide (C₆H₆N₂O), polymorphs with urea (CH₄N₂O) and eutectics with similar drugs, like allopurinol and febuxostat, were prepared using the crystal engineering approach. All these novel solid forms were confirmed by XRD, DSC and FT-IR. The crystal structures were solved by single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction. The crystal structures indicate that the lesinurad molecule is highly flexible and the triazole moiety, along with the rotatable thioacetic acid (side chain) and cyclopropane ring, is almost perpendicular to the planar naphthalene moiety. The carboxylic acid-triazole heterosynthon in the drug is interrupted by the presence of methanol and ethanol molecules in their crystal structures and forms intermolecular macrocyclic rings. The caffeine cocrystal maintains the consistency of the acid-triazole heterosynthons as in the drug and, in addition, they are bound by several auxiliary interactions. In the binary system of nicotinamide and urea, the acid-triazole heterosynthon is replaced by an acid-amide synthon. Among the urea cocrystal polymorphs, Form I (P-1, 1:1) consists of an acid-amide (urea) heterodimer, whereas in Form II (P2₁/c, 2:2), both acid-amide heterosynthons and urea-urea dimers co-exist. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further support the experimentally observed synthon hierarchies in the cocrystals. Aqueous solubility experiments of lesinurad and its binary solids in pH 5 acetate buffer medium indicate the apparent solubility order lesinurad-urea Form I (43-fold) > lesinurad-caffeine (20-fold) > lesinurad-allopurinol (12-fold) ≃ lesinurad-nicotinamide (11-fold) > lesinurad, and this order is correlated with the crystal structures.

Modulating the physical properties of solid forms of urea using co-crystallization technology

The solid-form landscape of urea was explored using full interaction maps (FIMs) and data from the CSD to develop optimum protocols for synthesizing co-crystals of urea. As a result, 49 of the 60 attempted reactions produced new co-crystals, and the crystal structures of four of these are presented. Moreover, the goal of reducing the solubility and lowering the hygroscopicity of the parent compound was achieved, which in turn offers new opportunities for application as a slow-release fertilizer with limited hygroscopicity, thereby reducing many current problems of transport, handling, and storage of urea.

Structures of the adducts urea:pyrazine (1:1), thiourea:pyrazine (2:1) and thiourea:piperazine (2:1)

The adducts urea:pyrazine (1:1) (1), thiourea:pyrazine (2:1) (2), and thiourea:piperazine (2:1) (3) were prepared and their structures determined. Adduct 1 forms a layer structure, in which urea chains of graph set C(4)[ R 2 1 ${\rm{R}}_{\rm{2}}^{\rm{1}}$ (6)] run parallel to the b axis and are crosslinked by N–H···N hydrogen bonding to the pyrazine residues. Adduct 2 is a variant of the well-known R 2 2 ${\rm{R}}_{\rm{2}}^{\rm{2}}$ (8) ribbon substructure for urea/thiourea adducts, with the pyrazine molecules attached to the remaining thiourea NH groups via bifurcated hydrogen bonds (N–H···)2S; the more distant end of the pyrazine molecules is crosslinked to another symmetry-equivalent but perpendicular ribbon system, thus creating a three-dimensional packing. The packing of adduct 3 involves thiourea layers parallel to the ab plane; the piperazine molecules occupy the regions between these layers and are linked to the thiourea molecules by two hydrogen bonds (one as donor, one as acceptor) at each piperazine nitrogen atom.

Structure of the adducts methylthiourea: 1,4-dioxane (2:1) and 1,1-dimethylthiourea: morpholine (1:1)

The adducts methylthiourea:1,4-dioxane (2:1) (1) and 1,1-dimethylthiourea:morpholine (1:1) (2) were prepared and their crystal structures determined. In 1, hydrogen bonding involving the methylthiourea molecules leads to the formation of R 2 2 ( 8 ) ${\rm{R}}_2^2(8)$ rings and thence to molecular ribbons parallel to [110]. The dioxane molecules accept hydrogen bonds from the remaining NH groups, and their inversion symmetry means that they connect adjacent methylthiourea ribbons, forming a layer structure parallel to (11̅1). In the packing of 2, dimethylthiourea dimers cannot link to each other because of the blocking effect of their methyl groups, but instead are linked indirectly via morpholine molecules, the NH groups of which are simultaneously hydrogen bond acceptors from the remaining NH function of dimethylthiourea and donors towards the sulfur atom of a neighbouring dimer. The overall effect is to form broad ribbons parallel to the a axis, with the morpholine molecules occupying the peripheral positions. The morpholine oxygen atom of 2 is not involved in classical hydrogen bonds.

Adducts of urea with pyrazines

The adducts urea:2,3-dimethylpyrazine (1:1) (1), urea:2-methylpyrazine (2:1) (2), urea:2,6-dimethylpyrazine (2:1) (3), urea:2,5-dimethylpyrazine (2:3) (4) and urea:2,5-dimethylpyrazine (2:1) (5), together with the related adduct methylthiourea:2-methylpyrazine (1:1) (6), were prepared and their structures determined. In all cases, the basic motif of the packing is a urea (or thiourea for 6) ribbon consisting of linked R 2 2 ${\rm{R}}_2^2$ (8) rings, to which the pyrazines are often attached by bifurcated hydrogen bond systems. Adducts 1–3 present standard packing patterns of 1:1 or 2:1 urea solvates. Adduct 4 consists of layers of standard 1:1 ribbons, between which are regions of interspersed pyrazines, connected to the main layers by C–H⋯N interactions. Adduct 5 contains the standard ribbons linked by pyrazines in one direction and (urea⋯pyrazine⋯urea) spacers in the other direction. The methylthiourea adduct 6 consists of the usual ribbons with pyrazines attached by two-centre hydrogen bonds (the methyl substituent blocks the formation of bifurcated systems).

Two polymorphs of 4-hydroxypiperidine with different NH configurations

4-Hydroxypiperidine 1 exists in two crystal forms, tetragonal 1t with axial NH and orthorhombic 1o with equatorial NH.