[reaction: see text] Aldehydes, in the presence of methanol, undergo oxidative transformation to the corresponding esters upon treatment with catalytic amounts of vanadium pentoxide in combination with oxidant hydrogen peroxide. Mild reaction conditions, shorter reaction times, high efficiencies, cost-effectiveness, and facile isolation of the desired products make the present methodology a practical alternative.

Acyclic and cyclic acetals of various carbonyl compounds were obtained in excellent yields under a mild reaction condition in the presence of trialkyl orthoformate and a catalytic amount of tetrabutylammonium tribromide (TBATB) in absolute alcohol. Chemoselective acetalization of an aldehyde in the presence of ketone, unsymmetrical acetal formation, shorter reaction times, mild reaction conditions, the stability of acid-sensitive protecting groups, high efficiencies, facile isolation of the desired products, and the catalytic nature of the reagent make the present methodology a practical alternative.

1,2-Dipyridiniumditribromide-ethane (DPTBE) has been synthesized and explored as a new efficient brominating agent. The crystalline ditribromide reagent is stable for months and acts as a safe source of bromine requiring just 0.5 equiv for complete bromination. It has high active bromine content per molecule and shows a remarkable reactivity compared to other tribromide reagents toward various substrates by just grinding the reagent and substrates in a porcelain mortar at room temperature. No organic solvent has been used during any stage of the reaction for substrates giving product as solid. Product can easily be isolated by just washing the highly water soluble 1,2-dipyridiniumdibromide-ethane (DPDBE) from the brominated product. The spent reagent can be recovered, regenerated, and reused without any significant loss.

Several analogues of diuridine phosphate (UpU) were synthesized in order to investigate why replacing the 2'-hydroxyl with a 2'-amino group prevents hydrolysis. These analogues were designed to investigate what influence the 2'-substituent and 5'-leaving group have upon the rate of hydrolysis. All the analogues were considerably more labile than UpU toward acid-base-catalyzed hydrolysis. In the pH region from 6 to 9, the rate of hydrolysis of uridylyl (3'-5') 5'-thio-5'-deoxyuridine (UpsU) hydrolysis rose, in a log linear fashion, from a value of 5 x 10(-)(6) s(-)(1) at pH 6 to 3200 x 10(-)(6) s(-)(1) at pH 9, indicating that attack on the phosphorus by the 2'-oxo anion is rate-limiting in the hydrolysis mechanism. In contrast, the rate of uridylyl (3'-5') 5'-amino-5'-deoxyuridine (UpnU) hydrolysis fell from a value of 1802 x 10(-)(6) s(-)(1) at pH 5 to 140 x 10(-)(6) s(-)(1) at pH 7.5, where it remained constant up to pH 11.5, thus indicating an acid-catalyzed reaction. The analogue 2'-amino-2'-deoxyuridylyl (3'-5') 5'-thio-5'-deoxyuridine (amUpsU) was readily hydrolyzed above pH 7, in contrast to the hydrolytic stability of amUpT, with rates between 85 x 10(-)(6) s(-)(1) and 138 x 10(-)(6) s(-)(1). The hydrolysis of 2'-amino-2'-deoxyuridylyl (3'-5') 5'-amino-5'-deoxythymidine (amUpnT) rose from 17 x 10(-)(6) s(-)(1) at pH 11.5 to 11 685 x 10(-)(6) s(-)(1) at pH 7.0, indicating an acid-catalyzed reaction, where protonation of the 5'-amine is rate limiting. The cleavage rates of UpsU, UpnU, and amUpsU were accelerated in the presence of Mg(2+), Zn(2+), and Cd(2+) ions, but a correlation with interaction between metal ion and leaving group could only be demonstrated for amUpsU. UpsU and UpnU are also substrates for RNase A with UpsU having similar Michaelis-Menten parameters to UpU. In contrast, UpnU is more rapidly degraded with an approximate 35-fold increase in catalytic efficiency, which is reflected purely in an increase in the value of k(cat).

Stabilization energy, as proposed by Parr and Pearson (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1983, 105, 7512) is decomposed into fragments. When the donor is not a perfect one and both the donor and the acceptor are ordinary organic molecules this decomposition is shown to provide energy fragments which, individually, can be correlated to the reaction rate of that particular step. It is shown how these different energy fragments can be used, together with the global electrophilicity value of the acceptor (w(A)), to locate the rate-determining step in multi-step reactions.

No abstract

A direct access to symmetrical and unsymmetrical 2,5-disubstituted [1,3,4]-oxadiazoles has been accomplished through an imine C-H functionalization of N-arylidenearoylhydrazide using a catalytic quantity of Cu(OTf)(2). This is the first example of amidic oxygen functioning as a nucleophile in a Cu-catalyzed oxidative coupling of an imine C-H bond. These reactions can be performed in air atmosphere and moisture making it exceptionally practical for application in organic synthesis.

The desulfurization ability of diacetoxyiodobenzene (DIB) has been explored in the preparation of isothiocyanates from the corresponding dithiocarbamate salts. The in situ generated isothiocyanates reacted with o-phenylenediamine and o-aminophenol to form monothioureas, which, on treatment with a further equivalent of DIB in one pot, gave benzimidazoles and aminobenzoxazoles, respectively. Aliphatic 1,2-diamines on reaction with 2 equiv. of isothiocyanate followed by treatment with DIB gave imidazolidenecarbothioamides,