In this contribution, we report the first successful baker's yeast reduction of arylpropanones using deep eutectic solvents (DESs) as biodegradable and non-hazardous co-solvents. The nature of DES [e.g. choline chloride/glycerol (2:1)] and the percentage of water in the mixture proved to be critical for both the reversal of selectivity and to achieve high enantioselectivity on going from pure water (up to 98:2 er in favour of the Senantiomer) to DES/aqueous mixtures (up to 98:2 er in favour of the R-enantiomer). As a result, both enantiomers of valuable chiral alcohols of pharmaceutical interest were prepared from the same biocatalyst by simply switching the solvent. The possible inhibition of some (S)-oxidoreductases making part of the genome of such a wild-type whole cell biocatalyst when DESs are used as cosolvents may pave the way for an anti-Prelog reduction. The scope and limitations of this kind of biotransformations for a range of aryl-containing ketones are also discussed.
The commercially available and cheap Pd/C was found to promote Sonogashira couplings in the environmentally friendly choline chloride/glycerol eutectic mixture in the absence of external ligands. Under heterogeneous conditions, (hetero)aryl iodides were successfully coupled with both aromatic and aliphatic alkynes in yields ranging from 50 to 99 % within 3 h at 60 °C. The aforementioned catalytic system proved to be effective also towards electron‐rich iodides, which are notoriously known to be poorly reactive in Pd‐catalyzed Sonogashira coupling reactions. The eutectic mixture and the catalyst could easily and successfully be recycled up to four times with an E‐factor as low as 24.4.
[reaction: see text] The stereospecific alpha-lithiation of optically active styrene oxides and the trapping reaction of the corresponding highly reactive intermediates with electrophiles to produce optically active styrene oxide derivatives are described. This methodology has been applied to the synthesis of an optically active oral antifungal agent of industrial interest.
A palladium-catalysed aminocarbonylation of (hetero)aryl iodides has, for the first time, been accomplished in deep eutectic solvents as environmentally benign and recyclable media, under mild conditions. The reactions proceeded with a good substrate scope, and a variety of amides have been synthesized in yields up to 98%.
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