Alkyne Chemistry Research Articles

Rapid polythioether synthesis and thioether network formation using thiol-yne chemistry of electron-deficient alkynes

The preparation of polythioethers has gained importance again after the development of click chemistry reactions. The thiol-X reactions, i.e., thiol-ene reactions based on free radical mechanism facilitated by light or heat, and thiol-Michael and thiol-epoxy reactions, which are the main synthetic pathways for the synthesis of polymers (linear, hyperbranched (HB), and network) with thioether linkages and meet most of the features of click reactions strategy, have currently been revisited. For a while, our group has focused on synthesizing linear, HB, and network polythioethers based on electron-deficient alkyne-containing precursors. We have shown that electron-deficient alkyne-containing monomers and polymers offer a suitable platform for thiol-Michael (i.e., thiol-yne) click reactions to yield linear, HB, and network structures rapidly under ambient conditions. The central structure in these polythioether syntheses is electron-deficient alkyne bonds of acetylenedicarboxylates, which are then reacted with dithiols in chloroform through an organobase 1,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene (TBD) at ambient temperatures. Moreover, acetylenedicarboxylates are functionalized using copper-free azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction followed by reacting with multifunctional allyl and SH derivatives through thiol-ene photopolymerization resulting in polymeric networks with thioether linkages. This feature article highlights our contribution to the synthesis of linear, HB, and network polythioether based on various electron-deficient alkyne precursors.

Frustrated Lewis pair chemistry of alkynes

This review is focused on the chemistry of frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) with alkynes and surveys the range of stoichiometric and catalytic reactions enabled by this concept.

Symposium on chemistry of alkynes, allenes and small cycles

The symposium on the chemistry of alkynes, allenes and small cycles was held from July 3 to July 6, 2023 at St. Petersburg State University as part of the All-Russian conference with international participation “Ideas and legacy of A.E. Favorsky in organic chemistry”. Leading experts in the chemistry of alkynes, allenes and small cycles took part in the symposium; the latest achievements in the chemistry of these classes of compounds were presented and further development prospects were discussed. This review contains brief annotations of the reports and references to the corresponding publications of the authors.

Symposium on the Chemistry of Alkynes, Allenes, and Small Rings

Symposium on the Chemistry of Alkynes, Allenes, and Small Rings

“Golden Age” of Homogeneous Catalytic Chemistry of Alkynes: Some Oxidative Transformations of Alkynes (A Review)

“Golden Age” of Homogeneous Catalytic Chemistry of Alkynes: Some Oxidative Transformations of Alkynes (A Review)

Synthesis of Berkeleylactone A by Ring‐Closing Alkyne Metathesis

AbstractA new route to the macrolactone antibiotic berkeleylactone A was developed. As a key step, a ring‐closing alkyne metathesis (RCAM) of an ester substrate featuring 1‐propynyl termini was used. The carboxylic part of the substrate was easily assembled using alkyne chemistry, like carboxylation of a diyne followed by isomerization of the ynoate section to a dienoate and dihydroxylation of the 4,5‐double bond. The synthesis of the alcohol part of the ester started with opening of (R)‐propylene oxide with an acetylide and was followed by two triple bond migrations. After successful RCAM which formed the C8−C9 bond, the triple bond was selectively hydrogenated to the corresponding alkene before the 4,5‐diol was oxidized to the 5‐hydroxy‐4‐oxo derivative. At this stage, the thioether was formed and the 8,9‐double bond reduced. We also prepared the 8,9‐didehydro analog of berkeleylactone A. However, it turned out that its antimicrobial activity was slightly reduced.

Total Synthesis of Phenanthroindolizidines Using Strained Azacyclic Alkynes.

We report a concise approach to phenanthroindolizidine alkaloids, wherein strained azacyclic alkynes are intercepted in Pd-catalyzed annulations. Two types of strained intermediates were evaluated: a functionalized piperidyne and a new strained intermediate, an indolizidyne. We show that each can be employed, ultimately allowing access to three natural products: tylophorine, tylocrebine, and isotylocrebine. These efforts demonstrate the successful merger of strained azacyclic alkyne chemistry with transition-metal catalysis for the construction of complex heterocycles.

Chemo- and regio-divergent access to fluorinated 1-alkyl and 1-acyl triazenes from alkynyl triazenes.

The 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethylene unit is prevalent in bioactive molecules and functional materials. Despite being in principle a straightforward strategy to access this motif, the direct tetrafluorination of alkynes involves very hazardous or inconvenient reagents. Therefore, safer and convenient alternatives are sought after. We developed a mild and operationally simple perfluorination method converting 1-alkynyl triazenes into 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoro alkyl triazenes, employing cheap and readily accessible reagents. Moreover, a judicious tuning of the reaction conditions enables access to α-difluoro triazenyl ketones. Complementary, electrophilic fluorination of alkynyl triazenes gives rise to the regioisomeric α-difluoro acyl triazenes. These three chemo- and regio-divergent protocols enable access to elusive fluorinated 1-alkyl and 1-acyl triazenes, thus expanding the chemical space for these unusual entities. Furthermore, several reaction intermediates and side products revealed insights on the reaction pathways that may be useful for further fluorination chemistry of alkynes.

Designed Artificial Protein Heterodimers With Coupled Functions Constructed Using Bio-Orthogonal Chemistry.

The formation of protein complexes is central to biology, with oligomeric proteins more prevalent than monomers. The coupling of functionally and even structurally distinct protein units can lead to new functional properties not accessible by monomeric proteins alone. While such complexes are driven by evolutionally needs in biology, the ability to link normally functionally and structurally disparate proteins can lead to new emergent properties for use in synthetic biology and the nanosciences. Here we demonstrate how two disparate proteins, the haem binding helical bundle protein cytochrome b 562 and the β-barrel green fluorescent protein can be combined to form a heterodimer linked together by an unnatural triazole linkage. The complex was designed using computational docking approaches to predict compatible interfaces between the two proteins. Models of the complexes where then used to engineer residue coupling sites in each protein to link them together. Genetic code expansion was used to incorporate azide chemistry in cytochrome b 562 and alkyne chemistry in GFP so that a permanent triazole covalent linkage can be made between the two proteins. Two linkage sites with respect to GFP were sampled. Spectral analysis of the new heterodimer revealed that haem binding and fluorescent protein chromophore properties were retained. Functional coupling was confirmed through changes in GFP absorbance and fluorescence, with linkage site determining the extent of communication between the two proteins. We have thus shown here that is possible to design and build heterodimeric proteins that couple structurally and functionally disparate proteins to form a new complex with new functional properties.

Design, Molecular Docking, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of 4, 5-Substituted 1, 2, 3-Triazoles as Anti-bacterial Agents

Newer antibacterial agents are needed to combat the growing bacterial infections. Triazoles are one of the leading and most sought out nucleus amongst the heterocyclic rings in the drug world. 1, 2, 3-Triazoles are synthesized by Click Chemistry of alkynes with azides. A synergistic effect is observed when the triazoles are combined with other heterocycles. They also exhibit diversified therapeutic activities like anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-diabetic, anti-tubercular, anti-inflam-matory, antihypertensive etc which makes Triazoles an interesting molecule for the researchers to work on. In the current study, we combined 1,2, 3-triazoles with thiophene ring system to get synergistic antibacterial activity. Here, 12 derivatives of 4, 5-substituted-1, 2, 3-Triazoles were subjected to in silico docking studies on Biotin ligase protein (PDB ID: 3V7R). The compounds that showed the best results were synthesized. The newly synthesized derivatives were characterized by using IR, H1 NMR and Mass spectrum. All the synthesized derivatives were evaluated for antibacterial activity against Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli and P. aerugenosa) and gram-positive bacteria (B. subtilis and S. aureus). The compounds showed moderate to good activity, which was comparable to that of the standard Streptomycin drug.

Disulfide-yne reaction: controlling the reactivity of a surface by light.

In this paper we provide new insight into the disulfide–yne photo reaction, which is similar but different from the well-known thiol–yne photoclick reaction. We show that, unlike the stable product generated from thiol–yne chemistry, the vinyl dithioether structure obtained from disulfide–yne reaction exhibits unique reactivity with thiols and disulfides, which can be used for surface photochemistry to fabricate reactive and dynamic surfaces. The possible mechanism for the unique reactivity of vinyl dithioether structure was discussed. We demonstrated that disulfide–yne reactions are highly compatible with thiol–yne chemistry, but offer the flexibility and dynamic nature that is lacking in thiol–yne chemistry, thus could be a good replenishment for the existing thiol–yne toolbox.

Recent advances in NHC–palladium catalysis for alkyne chemistry: versatile synthesis and applications

This review summarizes the recent developments in NHC–palladium catalysis for alkyne chemistry: versatile synthesis and applications.

Transition Metal-Catalyzed Tandem Reactions of Ynamides for Divergent N-Heterocycle Synthesis.

ConspectusYnamides are electron-rich heteroatom-substituted alkynes with a C-C triple bond directly attached to the amide group. Importantly, this amide group is able to impose an electronic bias, thus resulting in the highly regioselective attack of this polarized alkyne by a large variety of nucleophiles. Over the past two decades, catalytic reactions of ynamides have experienced dramatic developments, especially those catalyzed by transition metals. As a result, ynamides have been widely applied to the rapid and efficient assembly of versatile structurally complex N-containing molecules, especially in an atom-economic and stereoselective way.On the basis of newly developed ynamide preparations and new alkyne transformations, we first developed oxidation-initiated tandem reactions of ynamides such as zinc-catalyzed ynamide oxidation/C-H functionalization and copper-catalyzed ynamide oxidation/carbene metathesis, leading to divergent synthesis of isoquinolones, β-carbolines, and pyrrolo[3,4-c]quinolin-1-ones. Importantly, this protocol represents the first non-noble-metal-catalyzed intermolecular oxidation of alkynes by N-oxide type oxidants, and the related overoxidation could be dramatically inhibited in this non-noble-metal catalysis. Then, we achieved gold-catalyzed amination-initiated tandem reactions of ynamides via α-imino gold carbenes for efficient construction of various 2-aminoindoles, 3-amino-β-carbolines, and 2-aminopyrroles, where two new types of nitrene transfer reagents (benzyl azides and isoxazoles) were discovered. In particular, the use of isoxazoles as nitrene transfer reagents for atom-economic generation of α-imino metal carbenes has also been elegantly exploited by Hashmi, Liu, and many other groups, providing ready access to a wide range of functionalized N-heterocycles. Moreover, we revealed that donor/donor copper carbenes could be generated via copper-catalyzed diyne cyclization under mild conditions. These novel copper carbenes could undergo asymmetric C-H insertion, cyclopropanation, and formal [3 + 2] cycloaddition to produce diverse chiral polycyclic pyrroles with good to excellent enantioselectivities. Thus, this strategy may open new avenues in catalytic asymmetric reaction of ynamides, which remain largely unexplored and deserve more attention. Meanwhile, we also accomplished the efficient and practical synthesis of medium-sized lactams by yttrium-catalyzed cascade cyclization of allyl alcohol-tethered ynamides and the combination of radical chemistry based on visible-light photoredox catalysis with ynamide chemistry for divergent synthesis of useful 2-benzhydrylindoles and 3-benzhydrylisoquinolines.In this Account, we describe a panoramic picture of our recent contributions since 2015 to the development and application of ynamide chemistry in organic synthesis via transition metal-catalyzed tandem reactions by focusing on the tetrafunctionalization of ynamides. These studies provide not only efficient and attractive methods for divergent synthesis of valuable N-heterocycles but also some new insights into the exploration of alkyne chemistry and metal carbene chemistry.

“Golden Age” of Homogeneous Catalysis Chemistry of Alkynes: Dimerization and Oligomerization of Alkynes

History of the development and use of homogeneous metal complex catalysts in the chemistry of acetylene and its derivatives is considered. Achievements of the catalytic chemistry of alkynes in the creation of affective catalytic systems (based on Groups 3—11 and 13 of the Periodic Table) for alkyne dimerization, capable of producing desired dimeric isomers possessing high chemo-, stereo- and regioselectivity are analyzed. The nature of elementary stages in four mechanisms of dimerization and the relations of the nature of organometallic intermediates to the nature of catalyst (metal and ligand), substrate, and type of mechanism, and, hence, to the selectivity of dimerization process are discussed.

Surface Chemistry of 1- and 3-Hexyne on Pt(111): Desorption, Decomposition, and Dehydrocyclization

Despite their industrial use in selective hydrogenation reactions, the surface chemistry of long-chained alkynes on transition metals is not well understood. To this end, the two C6-alkynes 1- and 3-hexyne were studied on Pt(111) using temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), electron emission spectroscopies (MIES/UPS), and infrared reflection–absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS). Besides the formation of graphitic carbon residues, both molecules mainly undergo desorption, self-hydrogenation, and dehydrocyclization to form benzene during temperature-programmed desorption, similar to the analogous alkenes. The dehydrocyclization to benzene is shown to be ubiquitous to unsaturated hydrocarbons on Pt(111) regardless of the degree of unsaturation and its position within the molecule. A reaction mechanism for dehydrocyclization is proposed based on dehydrogenation followed by ring-closure. This work extends the understanding of alkyne chemistry on Pt-based catalysts and may aid to identify additional reaction mecha...

On-surface construction of low-dimensional nanostructures with terminal alkynes: Linking strategies and controlling methodologies

Bottom-up approach to constructing low-dimensional nanostructures on surfaces with terminal alkynes has drawn great interest because of its potential applications in fabricating advanced functional nanomaterials. The diversity of the achieved products manifests rich chemistry of terminal alkynes and hence careful linking strategies and proper controlling methodologies are required for selective preparations of high-quality target nanoarchitectures. This review summarizes various on-surface linking strategies for terminal alkynes, including non-bonding interactions as well as organometallic and covalent bonds, and presents examples to show effective control of surface assemblies and reactions of terminal alkynes by variations of the precursor structures, substrates and activation modes. Systematic studies of the on-surface linkage of terminal alkynes may help efficient and predictable preparations of surface nanomaterials and further understanding of surface chemistry.

A versatile route to polythiophenes with functional pendant groups using alkyne chemistry.

A new versatile polythiophene building block, 3-(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)prop-1-yne (pyEDOT) (3), is prepared from glycidol in four steps in 28% overall yield. pyEDOT features an ethynyl group on its ethylenedioxy bridge, allowing further functionalization by alkyne chemistry. Its usefulness is demonstrated by a series of functionalized polythiophene derivatives that were obtained by pre- and post-electropolymerization transformations, provided by the synthetic ease of the Sonogashira coupling and click chemistry.

ChemInform Abstract: A Pot‐Economical and Diastereoselective Synthesis Involving Catalyst‐Free Click Reaction for Fused‐Triazolobenzodiazepines.

A pot-economical synthesis involving sequential [3 + 2] cycloadditions of an azomethine ylide and an azide–alkyne (click reaction) has been developed for diastereoselective synthesis of novel triazolobenzodiazepine-containing polycyclic compounds. A new example of catalyst-free click chemistry of non-strained alkynes is also disclosed.

Gold(III)-Catalyzed Hydration of Phenylacetylene

A guided inquiry-based experiment exploring the regioselectivity of the hydration of phenylacetylene is described. The experiment uses an acidic gold(III) catalyst in a benign methanol/water solvent system to introduce students to alkyne chemistry and key principles of green chemistry. The experiment can be easily completed in approximately 2 h, and is suitable for use in introductory organic chemistry laboratories. The experiment is versatile and amenable to many lab settings, as it requires no specialized glassware, and the crude product can be analyzed via gas chromatography, infrared spectroscopy, or nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Recent Advances in Alkyne‐Based Multicomponent Polymerizations

Multicomponent polymerization (MCP) is an emerging field of polymer chemistry, which inherits a series of advantages from multicomponent reactions (MCRs), such as high efficiency, mild reaction condition, atom economy, and operational simplicity. Great efforts have been made to develop MCRs into MCPs, providing an easy access to a library of polymers with facilely tunable structures. However, MCPs of alkynes with large potential and wide prospects in the preparation of optoelectronic materials are still in its infancy, despite of the rich chemistry of alkynes. In this paper, the recent development of alkyne‐based MCPs is summarized. The multicomponent tandem polymerization with two or more steps combined in a one‐pot procedure is presented, providing an efficient and convenient new approach for the synthesis of conjugated polymers. The new trend of pursuing catalyst‐free “green” chemistry in MCPs is also introduced. image