Selective Alkane Hydroxylation in a Fluorous Solvent System Catalyzed by a Fluorocarbon-Soluble Transition-Metal Catalyst

Hydroxylation of aliphatic hydrocarbons requires highly reactive oxidants, but their strength can lead to undesired oxidation of the initially formed alcohols and solvents, undermining the product selectivity. To address these problems, we developed a novel catalytic system using fluorocarbon solvents. A cobalt complex supported by the fluorinated ligand, N,N,N',N',N″-pentakis-[CF3(CF2)7(CH2)3]-diethylenetriamine (Rf-deta), acts as an efficient catalyst [turnover number (TON) = 1203, turnover frequency = 51 ± 1 min-1] for cyclohexane hydroxylation with the m-chloroperbenzoic acid oxidant, achieving high alcohol selectivity (96%). Overoxidation to form cyclohexanone is minimized due to the separation of cyclohexanol from the reaction phase, comprising perfluoromethylcyclohexane and α,α,α-trifluorotoluene. The catalyst hydroxylates primary carbons (5 examples) and exhibits significant reactivity toward the terminal C-H bond of normal hexane (TON = 13). This system extends to the hydroxylation of the gaseous substrate butane, yielding the corresponding alcohols.

Supramolecular Diversity, Theoretical Investigation and Antibacterial Activity of Cu, Co and Cd Complexes Based on the Tridentate N,N,O-Schiff Base Ligand Formed In Situ

The four new complexes, [Cu(HL¹)(L²)Cl] (1), [Cu(HL¹)(L¹)]∙Cl∙2H₂O (2), [Co(L¹)₂]∙Cl (3) and [Cd(HL¹)I₂]∙dmso (4), have been prepared by one-pot reactions of the respective chloride or iodide metal salt with a non-aqueous solution of the polydentate Schiff base, HL¹, resulted from in situ condensation of benzhydrazide and 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde, while a ligand HL², in case of 1, has been formed due to the oxidation of 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde under reaction conditions. The crystallographic analysis revealed that the molecular building units in 1-4 are linked together into complex structures by hydrogen bonding, resulting in 1D, 2D and 3D supramolecular architectures for 1, 2 and 4, respectively, and the supramolecular trimer for 3. The electronic structures of 1-4 were investigated by the DFT theoretical calculations. The non-covalent interactions in the crystal structures of 1-4 were studied by means of the Hirshfeld surface analysis and the QTAIM theory with a special focus on the C-H⋯Cl bonding. From the DFT/DLPNO-CCSD(T) calculations, using a series of charged model {R₃C-H}⁰⋯Cl^- assemblies, we propose linear regressions for assessment of the interaction enthalpy (ΔH, kcal mol^-1) and the binding energy (BE, kcal mol^-1) between {R₃C-H}⁰ and Cl^- sites starting from the electron density at the bond critical point (ρ(r_BCP), a.u.): ΔH = -678 × ρ(r) + 3 and BE = -726 × ρ(r) + 4. It was also has been found that compounds 1, 3 and 4 during in vitro screening showed an antibacterial activity toward the nine bacteria species, comprising both Gram-positive and Gram-negative, with MIC values ranging from 156.2 to 625 mg/L. The best results have been obtained against Acinetobacter baumannii MβL.