A Chiral Titanocene Complex as Regiodivergent Photoredox Catalyst: Synthetic Scope and Mechanism of Catalyst Generation.

We describe a combined synthetic, spectroscopic, and computational study of a chiral titanocene complex as a regiodivergent photoredox catalyst (PRC). With Kagan's complex either monoprotected 1,3-diols or 1,4-diols can be obtained in high selectivity from a common epoxide substrate in a regiodivergent epoxide opening depending on which enantiomer of the catalyst is employed. Due to the catalyst-controlled regioselectivity of ring opening and the broader substrate scope, the PRC with is also a highly attractive branching point for diversity-oriented synthesis.

Catalytic utilization of converter gas - an industrial waste for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals.

Converter gas is a large scale waste product that is usually burned to carbon dioxide and contributes to the world emission of greenhouse gases. Herein we demonstrate that instead of burning the converter gas can be used as a reducing agent in organic reactions to produce valuable pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. In particular, amide-based selected drug molecules have been synthesized by a reaction of aromatic nitro compounds and carboxylic acids in the presence of converter gas.

Sodium Hypophosphite as a Bulk and Environmentally Friendly Reducing Agent in the Reductive Amination.

NaHPO was found to promote reductive amination. Being nontoxic, stable, environmentally benign, and available in bulk amounts, this reducing agent showed a powerful potential to compete with classical reductants applied in the target process. An factor of 1 was achieved for the substrate scope.

Reductive Amination in the Synthesis of Pharmaceuticals.

Reductive amination plays a paramount role in pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry owing to its synthetic merits and the ubiquitous presence of amines among biologically active compounds. It is one of the key approaches to C-N bond construction due to its operational easiness and a wide toolbox of protocols. Recent studies show that at least a quarter of C-N bond-forming reactions in the pharmaceutical industry are performed via reductive amination.

Anthracene-rhodium complexes with metal coordination at the central ring - a new class of catalysts for reductive amination.

A new class of anthracene complexes with a metal coordinated at the central ring was applied in catalysis for the first time. As a result, a simple and efficient protocol for reductive amination that involves CO as a reducing agent has been developed. The rhodium complex [(cyclooctadiene)Rh(C10H4Me2(OMe)4)]+ (1 mol%) catalyses such reactions under mild conditions (40-130 °C) and produces a variety of amines in good yields (74-95%) without affecting the functional groups.