The development and optimization of a palladium-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of arylboronic acids to cyclic enone conjugate acceptors is described. These reactions employ air-stable and readily-available reagents in an operationally simple and robust transformation that yields β-quaternary ketones in high yields and enantioselectivities. Notably, the reaction itself is highly toleran...

This Account covers the design of Ru catalysts and ligands. Two classes of chiral phosphine ligands are prepared: the electron-rich trans-2,4-substituted phosphetanes, readily available from optically pure 1,3-diol cyclic sulfates, and atropoisomeric ligands (SYNPHOS, MeO-NAPhePHOS, bearing heterotopic biaryl moieties, and a chiral water-soluble diguanidinium binaphthyl diphosphine, Digm-BINAP)...

A series of 5-oxohexannitrile derivatives IIa-d was prepared by react ion of acry lonitrile with ketones Ia-d. On the other hand, semicarbazone derivatives IVa-d were obtained upon reaction of IIa-d with semicarbazide. Hydrolysis and esterification in one step reaction of δ-ketonitrile IIa-d resulted in the formation of the corresponding δ-ketoesters Va-d. The δ-ketoesters Va-d is readily cycli...

The dielectric behaviors of some small symmetric ketone molecules, including acetone, 3-pentanone, cyclopentanone, 4-heptanone, and cyclohexanone, were investigated as a function of temperature (T) over a wide frequency range from 50 MHz (3.14 × 10(8) s(-1), in angular frequency) to 3 THz (1.88 × 10(13) s(-1)). The temperature dependencies of the rotational diffusion times (τ(r)) determined usi...

Direct asymmetric catalytic aldol reactions have been successfully performed using aldehydes and unmodified ketones together with commercially available chiral cyclic secondary amines as catalysts. Structure-based catalyst screening identified L-proline and 5,5-dimethyl thiazolidinium-4-carboxylate (DMTC) as the most powerful amino acid catalysts for the reaction of both acyclic and cyclic keto...