Synthesis of chiral 3-substituted indanones via an enantioselective reductive-Heck reaction.

An efficient intramolecular palladium-catalyzed, asymmetric reductive-Heck reaction has been developed, which allowed for the synthesis of either enantiomerically enriched 3-substituted indanones or alpha-exo-methylene indanones depending on the base used.

Importance of counterion reactivity on the deactivation of Co-salen catalysts in the hydrolytic kinetic resolution of epichlorohydrin.

Possible modes of deactivation of Jacobsen's Co-salen catalyst during the hydrolytic kinetic resolution (HKR) of epichlorohydrin were explored by UV-vis spectroscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, combined with recycling studies. Although an active Co(III)-salen catalyst deactivated substantially after multiple cycles without regeneration, the catalyst maintained its +3 oxidation state throughout the runs. Thus, deactivation of Co-salen during HKR was not the result of Co reduction.

Ring-expanding olefin metathesis: a route to highly active unsymmetrical macrocyclic oligomeric co-salen catalysts for the hydrolytic kinetic resolution of epoxides.

In the presence of the third generation Grubbs catalyst, the ring-expanding olefin metathesis of a monocyclooct-4-en-1-yl functionalized salen ligand and the corresponding Co(II)(salen) complex at low monomer concentrations results in the exclusive formation of macrocyclic oligomeric structures with the salen moieties being attached in an unsymmetrical, flexible, pendent manner. The TOF-MALDI mass spectrometry reveals that the resulting macrocyclic oligomers consist predominantly of dimeric to tetrameric species, with detectable traces of higher homologues up to a decamer. Upon activation under aerobic and acidic conditions, these Co(salen) macrocycles exhibit extremely high reactivities and selectivities in the hydrolytic kinetic resolution (HKR) of a variety of racemic terminal epoxides under neat conditions with very low catalyst loadings.

A practical one-pot synthesis of enantiopure unsymmetrical salen ligands.

A practical, one-pot synthesis of enantiopure unsymmetrical salen ligands is described, using a 1:1:1 molar ratio of a chiral diamine and two different salicylaldehydes. The new synthetic protocol can be readily performed in good yields (60-85%) on a multigram scale with good tolerance toward various functional groups.

Poly(styrene)-supported co-salen complexes as efficient recyclable catalysts for the hydrolytic kinetic resolution of epichlorohydrin.

Here we describe an unprecedented synthetic approach to poly(styrene)-supported chiral salen ligands by the free radical polymerization of an unsymmetrical styryl-substituted salen monomer (H2salen = bis(salicylidene)ethylenediamine). The new method allows for the attachment of salen moieties to the polymer main chain in a flexible, pendant fashion, avoiding grafting reactions that often introduce ill-defined species on the polymers. Moreover, the loading of the salen is controlled by the copolymerization of the styryl-substituted salen monomer with styrene in different ratios.

[Progress in automatic detection of epilepsy based on EEG analysis].

Automatic detection of epileptic events is of significance in clinical application. It is helpful to reduce the electroencephalogram analysts' workload. This paper summarizes and analyzes the detection of epileptic events by traditional and especially advanced methods, including nonlinear filtering, template matching, mimetic, wavelet transform and artificial neural network.

Dipolar and nonpolar altitudinal molecular rotors mounted on an Au(111) surface.

We describe the preparation of a compound whose molecules consist of two metal sandwich stands carrying tentacles with affinity to metal surfaces and holding an axle that carries a dipolar or a nonpolar rotator. The dipolar rotor exists as three pairs of enantiomers, rapidly interconverting at room temperature. When mounted on a gold surface, each molecule represents a chiral altitudinal rotor, with the rotator axle parallel to the surface.