Enantioselective construction of small molecules displaying a configurationally stable helical shape built on a fused-tetracyclic core is a daunting synthetic challenge even more pronounced when five-membered rings are incorporated in the structure. The resulting higher configurational lability strongly hampers their access, and therefore the development of new efficient methodologies is timely and highly desirable. In this context, we describe a padlocking approach the enantioselective organocatalytic domino furannulation of appropriately designed achiral fused-tricyclic precursors resulting in the synthesis of configurationally locked helically chiral tetracyclic scaffolds featuring one or two five-membered rings with the simultaneous control of central and helical chiralities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTwo different alkynyl-substituted -symmetric cyclotribenzylenes (CTB) were synthesized in racemic and enantiomerically pure forms, and six gold(I) phosphine complexes differing by the nature of the CTB and the phosphine were prepared and characterized, in particular by NMR spectroscopy, DOSY, electronic circular dichroism (ECD), and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Their ECD patterns depended on the substitution of the starting CTBs and were shifted bathochromically by comparison with the latter. ESI-MS in the presence of HCOH allowed us to detect the complexes as proton adducts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccessing each enantiomer of a chiral molecule starting from a racemic mixture remains a daunting challenge in chemistry. Indeed, until now, only a few solutions exist to separate enantiomers of an equimolar mixture of a chiral precursor. In this study, we establish a new strategy to prepare simultaneously and physically separate both enantioenriched enantiomers of a molecule starting from a racemic substrate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe concept of atropisomeric N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-metal complexes was extended to NHCs possessing a -symmetry and implemented to prepare palladium-based complexes. An in-depth study of the NHC precursors and the screening of various NHC ligands enabled us to circumvent the issue associated with the formation of complexes. A set of 8 atropisomeric NHC-palladium complexes were prepared and then obtained with high enantiopurities, thanks to an efficient resolution by chiral HPLC at the preparative scale.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report the synthesis and absolute configuration (AC) of a chiral isotopologue of -cryptophane-B. Low chiral signatures were measured by polarimetry and electronic circular dichroism, whereas most significant chiroptical effects were observed by vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) and Raman optical activity (ROA). The comparison of experimental VCD and ROA spectra with those predicted by DFT calculations allows the determination of the AC of the two enantiomers as (-)--- and (+)---.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe (Z) and (E)-isomers of an extended tetraphenylethylene-based chromophore with optimized two-photon-induced luminescence properties are separated and functionalized with water-solubilizing pendant polymer groups, promoting their self-assembly in physiological media in the form of small, colloidal stable organic nanoparticles. The two resulting fluorescent suspensions are then evaluated as potential two-photon luminescent contrast agents for intravital epifluorescence and two-photon fluorescence microscopy. Comparisons with previously reported works involving similar fluorophores devoid of polymer side chains illustrate the benefits of later functionalization regarding the control of the self-assembly of the nano-objects and ultimately their biocompatibility toward the imaged organism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe preparation of several covalently linked [6]-helicene-porphyrins is reported. A fused [6]-helicene-porphyrin π-extended aromatic system was isolated, the enantiomers separated and the chiroptical properties determined. The oxidative cyclodehydrogenation proved to be very effective for six-membered fused helical systems, but not suited for the formation of five-membered fused systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report a new molecular design to afford persistent chiral organic open-shell systems with configurational stability and an inversion in energy of the singly occupied molecular orbital (SOMO) and the highest doubly occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) for both mono- and diradical states. The unpaired electron delocalization within the designed extended helical π-conjugated systems is a crucial factor to reach chemical stabilities, which is not obtained using the classical steric protection approach. The unique features of the obtained helical monoradicals allow an exploration of the chiral intramolecular electron transfer (IET) process in solvents of different polarity by means of optical and chiroptical spectroscopies, resulting in an unprecedented electronic circular dichroism (ECD) sign inversion for the radical transitions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA series of chiral cyclometalated iridium complexes of the type [Ir(C^N)(C^C:)], {(C^N) = ppy (2); dfppy (3)} featuring a naphthalimide N-heterocyclic carbene ligand (C^C:) = (Naphthalimide-NHC) are described and fully characterized. The racemic complexes -2 and -3 were resolved chiral column chromatography techniques into their corresponding enantiopure species -2, -2, -3, -3 as confirmed by their CD curves. This unique class of molecules containing organic and inorganic chromophores might be used as a platform to probe the stereochemical effect on the photophysical properties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChiral gold(I) acetylide trinuclear complexes 1-3 based on the cyclotribenzylene platform and terminal PR ligands (R=Ph, Et, and Cy, respectively), were characterized and their light emission studied. They exhibited long-lived blue phosphorescence in CHCl and a weak fluorescence in the UV. In MeOH/CHCl mixtures of >1:1 volume ratio, 1 and 2 exhibited a new emission band at ca.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStereogenic silicon centres in functionalised tetracoordinated organosilanes generally exhibit very high configurational stability under neutral conditions. This stability drops completely when higher coordination states of the silicon centre are reached due to rapid substituent exchange. Herein we describe the synthesis of chiral and neutral pentacoordinate silicon derivatives with high configurational stability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTwo new hemicryptophanes combining a cyclotriveratrylene unit with either an aminotrisamide or a tris(2-aminoethyl)amine (tren) moiety have been synthesized. Although a conventional synthesis approach was used, the molecular cages obtained are devoid of the expected symmetry. NMR analyses and X-ray crystal structure determination showed that these hemicryptophanes exhibited symmetry due to the unusual arrangement of the substituents of the cyclotriveratrylene unit.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnantiopure helicene-porphyrin conjugates were prepared. They show strong changes in their circular dichroic response as compared to classical helicene derivatives, with highly intense bisignate Exciton Coupling (EC) signal and Δ values up to 680 M cm for the Soret band. They also display circularly polarized fluorescence in the (far-)red region, with dissymmetry factors up to 7 × 10.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA reinvestigation of a chiral phosphoric-acid-catalyzed four-component Hantzsch enantioselective synthesis of polyhydroquinolines reported in 2009 is presented. In our hands, when the reaction was performed with fidelity to the original report using a chiral enantiopure phosphoric acid catalyst, no enantioselectivity was observed. Unlike in the original report, enantioselectivity results are backed by baseline separation of the enantiomers by HPLC analyses on chiral stationary phase with UV and chiroptical detection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMono- and di-boranil-substituted helicenes were prepared by BF -borylation of the corresponding anils, readily synthesized by condensation of 2-amino- and 2,15-diamino-helicenes with 4-(diethylamino)salicylaldehyde. After enantiomeric resolution using HPLC, their chiroptical properties including circularly polarized fluorescence in solution and in PMMA films were investigated and rationalized with the help of NMR, X-ray and quantum-chemical calculations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeptides were produced in high yields and, if any, very low epimerization, by mechanochemical coupling of peptide fragments containing highly epimerization-prone and/or highly hindered amino acids at C-term. Ball milling was clearly identified as the key element enabling one to obtain such results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis paper aims at designing chromophores with efficient aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties for two-photon fluorescence microscopy (2PFM), which is one of the best-suited types of microscopy for the imaging of living organisms or thick biological tissues. Tetraphenylethylene (TPE) derivatives are common building blocks in the design of chromophores with efficient AIE properties. Therefore, in this study, extended TPE AIEgens specifically optimized for two-photon absorption (2PA) are synthesized and the resulting (/) isomers are separated using chromatography on chiral supports.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report persistent chiral organic mono- and diradical cations based on bicarbazole molecular design with an unprecedented stability dependence on the type of chirality, namely, axial versus helical. An unusual chemical stability was observed for sterically unprotected axial bicarbazole radical in comparison with monocarbazole and helical bicarbazole ones. Such results were experimentally and theoretically investigated, revealing an inversion in energy of the singly occupied molecular orbital (SOMO) and the highest (doubly) occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) in both axial and helical bicarbazole monoradicals along with a subtle difference of electronic coupling between the two carbazole units, which is modulated by their relative dihedral angle and related to the type of chirality.
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