The rearrangement of 1-alkynyl cyclobutanols and cyclopropanols to alkylidene cycloalkanones catalyzed by cationic triarylphosphine gold(I) complexes is described. The reaction tolerates terminal alkynes as well as alkyl, aryl, and halo-substitution at the acetylenic position and stereoselectively provides a single olefin isomer. The gold(I)-catalyzed rearrangement is stereospecific with regard...

A new strategy to access linear amines from terminal olefin precursors is reported. This two-step, one-pot hydroamination methodology employs sequential oxidation and reduction catalytic cycles. The formal hydroamination transformation proceeds with excellent regioselectivity, and only the anti-Markovnikov product is observed. Up to 70% yield can be obtained from styrenes or aliphatic olefins a...

Density functional theory calculations were used to predict the behaviour of a potential novel architecture of olefin metathesis catalysts, in which one of the neutral ligands of classical Ru-based catalysts, e.g. a phosphine or an N-heterocyclic carbene, is replaced by an alkylidene group. Introduction of a second alkylidene ligand favors dissociation of the remaining phosphine and the overall...

Three ruthenium-based complexes exhibiting catalytic activity in olefin metathesis have been examined for the presence of interesting nonlinear optical (NLO) properties. Measurements were performed by the Z-scan technique using a tunable femtosecond laser system. This initial screening for potential new applications in photonics of complexes representative of a wide family of ruthenium-based ol...

A mechanism for the aziridination of olefins by aryl azides (ArN3), promoted by ruthenium(ii) porphyrin complexes, is proposed on the basis of kinetic and theoretical studies. All the recorded data support the involvement of a mono-imido ruthenium complex as the active intermediate in the transfer of the nitrene moiety "ArN" to the olefin. The selectivity of the aziridination vs. the uncatalyse...

This is a story of our exploration of the olefin-metathesis reaction, a reaction that has been the major emphasis of my independent research. As with all stories of scientific discovery, there are three components: the discoveries, the resulting applications, and, perhaps the most important of all, the people involved. Starting from observations made from seemingly unrelated work, our investiga...

Described in this report is the first total synthesis of elatol, a halogenated sesquiterpene in the chamigrene natural product family. The key disconnections in our synthetic approach include an enantioselective decarboxylative allylation to form the all-carbon quaternary stereocenter and a ring-closing olefin metathesis to concomitantly form the spirocyclic core as well as the fully substitute...

The cationic ruthenium catalyst generated upon the acid-base reaction of H2Ru(CO)(PPh3)3 and 2,4,6-(2-Pr)3PhSO3H promotes the redox-triggered C-C coupling of 2-alkynes and primary alcohols to form (Z)-homoallylic alcohols with good to complete control of olefin geometry. Deuterium labeling studies, which reveal roughly equal isotopic compositions at the allylic and distal vinylic positions, alo...

We have developed an efficient protocol for copper-catalyzed olefin aziridination using 5-methyl-2-pyridinesulfonamide or 2-pyridinesulfonyl azide as the nitrenoid source. The presence of a 2-pyridyl group significantly facilitates aziridination, suggesting that the reaction is driven by the favorable formation of a pyridyl-coordinated nitrenoid intermediate. Using this chelation-assisted strat...

The Old Yellow Enzyme has been shown to catalyze efficiently the NADPH-linked reduction of nitro-olefins. The reduction of the nitro-olefin proceeds in a stepwise fashion, with formation of a nitronate intermediate that is freely dissociable from the enzyme. The first step involves hydride transfer from the enzyme-reduced flavin to carbon 2 of the nitro-olefin. The protonation of the nitronate ...