The chemical behaviour of various alkyl-substituted, acyclic conjugated bisallenes in reactions involving polar intermediates and/or transition states has been investigated on a broad scale for the first time. The reactions studied include lithiation, reaction of the thus formed organolithium salts with various electrophiles (among others, allyl bromide, DMF and acetone), oxidation to cyclopent...

Two cytotoxic terpenes, alpha-santonin (1) and sclareol (3) were biotransformed by a plant pathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea to produce oxidized metabolites in high yields. Alpha-Santonin (1) on fermentation with the fungus for ten days afforded a hydroxylated metabolite identified as 11beta-hydroxy-alpha-santonin (2) in a high yield (83%), while sclareol (3) was metabolized to epoxysclareol (...

One potential Lewis acid that has received negligible attention as a catalyst is the carbocation. Here we show the potential of triaryl methylium ions as highly powerful Lewis acid catalysts for organic reactions. The Lewis acidity of the triaryl methylium ion can be easily tuned by variation of the electronic properties of the aromatic rings and the catalytic activity of the carbocation is sho...

A rhodium-catalysed stitching reaction between 2-(silylethynyl)arylboronates and 2-(silylethynyl)aryl bromides has been developed for the synthesis of unsymmetric dibenzo[a,e]pentalenes. The introduction of appropriately sized silyl groups on the starting substrates led to a high crossover selectivity without using an excess amount of either substrate. The present stitching reaction could produ...

A highly regio- and diastereo-selective synthesis of halogenated C-vinyl glycosides has been achieved from glycals and unactivated aryl acetylenes in the presence of halogenated Lewis acids via a tandem glycosylation-halogenation reaction. The Lewis acid used served the dual purpose of activating the allylic acetoxy group of glycals and serving as halogen source for Markovnikov addition across ...

A series of Pt(IV) prodrugs has been obtained by oxidative halogenation of either cisplatin or carboplatin. Iodobenzene dichloride is a general reagent that cleanly provides prodrugs bearing axial chlorides without the need to prepare intervening Pt(IV) intermediates or handle chlorine gas. Elemental bromine and iodine afford Pt(IV) compounds as well, although in the case of the iodine-mediated...