No abstract

In view of its unique photocatalytic properties, decatungstate (W(10)O(32)(4-)) is rapidly emerging as a promising tool in organic chemistry. This tutorial review surveys recent developments in the chemistry of decatungstate, including mostly synthetic, and to a lesser extent mechanistic aspects. We have chosen to present several representative examples that illustrate the diverse uses of decatungstate in organic synthesis. Thus, the decatungstate-mediated radical functionalization of several classes of organic compounds such as alkanes, alkenes, alcohols, aldehydes and sulfides, under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions, represents reactions of fundamental and practical interest in academia and industry. Several new discoveries concerning the heterogenization of decatungstate for the development of sustainable methods with broad applications in catalysis, such as the photooxidation or photodegradation of various organic substrates, are also presented.

Open-cage fullerene derivatives have excited organic chemists' creativity over the past decade. These adducts, generated via consecutive cleavage of sigma- and pi-carbon-carbon bonds on the fullerene cage, allow small atoms or molecules to pass through their opening and be placed inside the cavity. Restoration of the ruptured fullerene back to the pristine fullerene cage affords the corresponding endohedral complexes. This "molecular surgery" approach has been proposed as an alternative to the synthesis of endohedral fullerenes via the conventional physical methods of production, which restrict the availability of endohedral fullerenes to milligram quantities after laborious isolation procedures. In this critical review, we survey all published techniques for the creation of an orifice, as well as for the expansion of an existing one, on the fullerene framework. Successful encapsulation experiments employing cage-opened fullerene derivatives are also comprehensively discussed (160 references).

Two novel open-cage fullerene derivatives bearing a 12-membered-ring orifice on the fullerene cage have been isolated. Removal of the N-MEM protective group leads to the first open-cage [60]fullerene derivative without organic addends on the rim of the orifice. [structure: see text]

No abstract

A versatile and highly efficient photochemical methodology for the direct acylation of C(60) has been developed. This approach utilizes a wide variety of acyl radicals derived from aldehydes through a hydrogen atom abstraction process mediated by tetrabutylammonium decatungstate [(n-Bu(4)N)(4)W(10)O(32)]. The single addition reaction of these acyl radicals to [60]fullerene proceeded selectively to afford a novel class of previously unexplored fullerene-based materials. Product analysis of this reaction showed that decarbonylation and acylation pathways compete when a tertiary or phenylacetyl aldehyde is the starting material. However, a decrease of the reaction temperature was found to be effective in overcoming the decarbonylation encountered in certain acyl radical additions to C(60); the carbonyl radical addition precedes decarbonylation even in the cases where the decarbonylation rate constant exceeds 10(6) s(-1) (i.e., phenylacetaldehyde). The regiochemistry of the t-butyl radical addition was also found to be thermally controlled. The present methodology is directly applicable even in the cases of the cyclopropyl-substituted aldehydes, where rapid rearrangement of the cyclopropyl acyl radical intermediate can potentially occur. A mechanistic approach for this new reactivity of C(60) has been also provided, based mainly on intra- and intermolecular deuterium isotope effect studies.

No abstract

except from single-crystal measurements utilizing polarized X-rays34). Furthermore, EXAFS diminishes rapidly beyond the first and second coordination shells (typically r ;$ 4 Á) except in cases where atoms are nearly collinear. In such cases, EXAFS from atoms as far as 6 A can be observed due to amplitude enhancement called focusing effect. In fact, both amplitude and phase of the EXAFS of a more distant neighbor are significantly affected by the intervening atom(s) for bond angle > 120°. For these systems, one must therefore take into account multiple scattering processes involving the intervening atom(s). Recently, a new multiple scattering formalism has been developed35 which enables bond angle determinations with an accuracy of 5% or ca. 5°. Nevertheless, the structural content of EXAFS is unparalleled by other spectroscopic techniques when (35) B. K. Teo, submitted for publication. one considers that the few most important bonds in a complex system can be probed within minutes. The future of EXAFS spectroscopy is as bright as the future synchrotron radiation sources. Dedicated synchrotron radiations with energy ranging from UV to hard X-rays are now available.36 These highly intense light sources will undoubtedly open up a new era in exciting chemical, biological, and material research.