Aviation fuel (i.e., jet fuel) requires a mixture of C9 -C16 hydrocarbons having both a high energy density and a low freezing point. While jet fuel is currently produced from petroleum, increasing concern with the release of CO2 into the atmosphere from the combustion of petroleum-based fuels has led to policy changes mandating the inclusion of biomass-based fuels into the fuel pool. Here we r...

The regio- and chemoselective oxidation of unprotected vicinal polyols with [(neocuproine)Pd(OAc)]2(OTf)2 (1) (neocuproine = 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline) occurs readily under mild reaction conditions to generate α-hydroxy ketones. The oxidation of vicinal diols is both faster and more selective than the oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols; vicinal 1,2-diols are oxidized selectively...

Biocatalytic procedures can circumvent some of the drawbacks that classical methodologies present in chemical synthesis. One example is shown by the Baeyer-Villiger (BV) reaction, a process discovered more than 100 years ago that consists in the nucleophilic insertion of one atom of oxygen in the adjacent position of a carbonyl moiety affording esters or lactones. This reaction proceeds using p...

Quinolines, an important class of potentially bioactive compounds, have been synthesized by treatment of O-aminoarylketones and carbonyl compounds utilizing niobium (V) chloride / polyethylenglycole(NbCl5.PEG) and niobium(V)chloride (NbCl5) as available and inexpensive catalysts. The quinoline derivatives were prepared in glycerol, an excellent solvent in terms of environmental impact, with hig...

quinolines, an important class of potentially bioactive compounds, have been synthesized by treatment of o-aminoarylketones and carbonyl compounds utilizing niobium (v) chloride / polyethylenglycole(nbcl5.peg) and niobium(v)chloride (nbcl5) as available and inexpensive catalysts. the quinoline derivatives were prepared in glycerol, an excellent solvent in terms of environmental impact, with hig...