Elias James Corey is an American organic chemist. In 1990, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his development of the theory and methodology of organic synthesis", specifically retrosynthetic analysis.
A protecting group or protective group is introduced into a molecule by chemical modification of a functional group to obtain chemoselectivity in a subsequent chemical reaction. It plays an important role in multistep organic synthesis.
Dess–Martin periodinane (DMP) is a chemical reagent used in the Dess–Martin oxidation, oxidizing primary alcohols to aldehydes and secondary alcohols to ketones. This periodinane has several advantages over chromium- and DMSO-based oxidants that include milder conditions, shorter reaction times, higher yields, simplified workups, high chemoselectivity, tolerance of sensitive functional groups, and a long shelf life. However, use on an industrial scale is made difficult by its cost and its potentially explosive nature. It is named after the American chemists Daniel Benjamin Dess and James Cullen Martin who developed the reagent in 1983. It is based on IBX, but due to the acetate groups attached to the central iodine atom, DMP is much more reactive than IBX and is much more soluble in organic solvents.
The Henry reaction is a classic carbon–carbon bond formation reaction in organic chemistry. Discovered in 1895 by the Belgian chemist Louis Henry (1834–1913), it is the combination of a nitroalkane and an aldehyde or ketone in the presence of a base to form β-nitro alcohols. This type of reaction is also referred to as a nitroaldol reaction. It is nearly analogous to the aldol reaction that had been discovered 23 years prior that couples two carbonyl compounds to form β-hydroxy carbonyl compounds known as "aldols". The Henry reaction is a useful technique in the area of organic chemistry due to the synthetic utility of its corresponding products, as they can be easily converted to other useful synthetic intermediates. These conversions include subsequent dehydration to yield nitroalkenes, oxidation of the secondary alcohol to yield α-nitro ketones, or reduction of the nitro group to yield β-amino alcohols.
In stereochemistry, a chiral auxiliary is a stereogenic group or unit that is temporarily incorporated into an organic compound in order to control the stereochemical outcome of the synthesis. The chirality present in the auxiliary can bias the stereoselectivity of one or more subsequent reactions. The auxiliary can then be typically recovered for future use.
A pinacol coupling reaction is an organic reaction in which a carbon–carbon bond is formed between the carbonyl groups of an aldehyde or a ketone in presence of an electron donor in a free radical process. The reaction product is a vicinal diol. The reaction is named after pinacol, which is the product of this reaction when done with acetone as reagent. The reaction is usually a homocoupling but intramolecular cross-coupling reactions are also possible. Pinacol was discovered by Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig in 1859.
The Petasis reaction is the multi-component reaction of an amine, a carbonyl, and a vinyl- or aryl-boronic acid to form substituted amines.
The Dakin oxidation (or Dakin reaction) is an organic redox reaction in which an ortho- or para-hydroxylated phenyl aldehyde (2-hydroxybenzaldehyde or 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde) or ketone reacts with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in base to form a benzenediol and a carboxylate. Overall, the carbonyl group is oxidised, whereas the H2O2 is reduced.
Asymmetric induction describes the preferential formation in a chemical reaction of one enantiomer or diastereoisomer over the other as a result of the influence of a chiral feature present in the substrate, reagent, catalyst or environment. Asymmetric induction is a key element in asymmetric synthesis.
The Rubottom oxidation is a useful, high-yielding chemical reaction between silyl enol ethers and peroxyacids to give the corresponding α-hydroxy carbonyl product. The mechanism of the reaction was proposed in its original disclosure by A.G. Brook with further evidence later supplied by George M. Rubottom. After a Prilezhaev-type oxidation of the silyl enol ether with the peroxyacid to form the siloxy oxirane intermediate, acid-catalyzed ring-opening yields an oxocarbenium ion. This intermediate then participates in a 1,4-silyl migration to give an α-siloxy carbonyl derivative that can be readily converted to the α-hydroxy carbonyl compound in the presence of acid, base, or a fluoride source.
The Fleming–Tamao oxidation, or Tamao–Kumada–Fleming oxidation, converts a carbon–silicon bond to a carbon–oxygen bond with a peroxy acid or hydrogen peroxide. Fleming–Tamao oxidation refers to two slightly different conditions developed concurrently in the early 1980s by the Kohei Tamao and Ian Fleming research groups.
Organoindium chemistry is the chemistry of compounds containing In-C bonds. The main application of organoindium chemistry is in the preparation of semiconducting components for microelectronic applications. The area is also of some interest in organic synthesis. Most organoindium compounds feature the In(III) oxidation state, akin to its lighter congeners Ga(III) and B(III).
The α-ketol rearrangement is the acid-, base-, or heat-induced 1,2-migration of an alkyl or aryl group in an α-hydroxy ketone or aldehyde to give an isomeric product.
Metal-catalyzed cyclopropanations are chemical reactions that result in the formation of a cyclopropane ring from a metal carbenoid species and an alkene. In the Simmons–Smith reaction the metal involved is zinc. Metal carbenoid species can be generated through the reaction of a diazo compound with a transition metal). The intramolecular variant of this reaction was first reported in 1961. Rhodium carboxylate complexes, such as dirhodium tetraacetate, are common catalysts. Enantioselective cyclopropanations have been developed.
Manganese-mediated coupling reactions are radical coupling reactions between enolizable carbonyl compounds and unsaturated compounds initiated by a manganese(III) salt, typically manganese(III) acetate. Copper(II) acetate is sometimes used as a co-oxidant to assist in the oxidation of intermediate radicals to carbocations.
Benzylic activation and stereocontrol in tricarbonyl(arene)chromium complexes refers to the enhanced rates and stereoselectivities of reactions at the benzylic position of aromatic rings complexed to chromium(0) relative to uncomplexed arenes. Complexation of an aromatic ring to chromium stabilizes both anions and cations at the benzylic position and provides a steric blocking element for diastereoselective functionalization of the benzylic position. A large number of stereoselective methods for benzylic and homobenzylic functionalization have been developed based on this property.
Hydrogen auto-transfer, also known as borrowing hydrogen, is the activation of a chemical reaction by temporary transfer of two hydrogen atoms from the reactant to a catalyst and return of those hydrogen atoms back to a reaction intermediate to form the final product. Two major classes of borrowing hydrogen reactions exist: (a) those that result in hydroxyl substitution, and (b) those that result in carbonyl addition. In the former case, alcohol dehydrogenation generates a transient carbonyl compound that is subject to condensation followed by the return of hydrogen. In the latter case, alcohol dehydrogenation is followed by reductive generation of a nucleophile, which triggers carbonyl addition. As borrowing hydrogen processes avoid manipulations otherwise required for discrete alcohol oxidation and the use of stoichiometric organometallic reagents, they typically display high levels of atom-economy and, hence, are viewed as examples of Green chemistry.
Dynamic kinetic resolution in chemistry is a type of kinetic resolution where 100% of a racemic compound can be converted into an enantiopure compound. It is applied in asymmetric synthesis. Asymmetric synthesis has become a much explored field due to the challenge of creating a compound with a single 3D structure. Even more challenging is the ability to take a racemic mixture and have only one chiral product left after a reaction. One method that has become an exceedingly useful tool is dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR). DKR utilizes a center of a particular molecule that can be easily epimerized so that the (R) and (S) enantiomers can interconvert throughout the reaction process. At this point the catalyst can selectively lower the transition state energy of a single enantiomer, leading to almost 100% yield of one reaction pathway over the other. The figure below is an example of an energy diagram for a compound with an (R) and (S) isomer.
In organic chemistry, carbonyl allylation describes methods for adding an allyl anion to an aldehyde or ketone to produce a homoallylic alcohol. The carbonyl allylation was first reported in 1876 by Alexander Zaitsev and employed an allylzinc reagent.
The Krische allylation involves the enantioselective iridium-catalyzed addition of an allyl group to an aldehyde or an alcohol, resulting in the formation of a secondary homoallylic alcohol. The mechanism of the Krische allylation involves primary alcohol dehydrogenation or, when using aldehyde reactants, hydrogen transfer from 2-propanol. Unlike other allylation methods, the Krische allylation avoids the use of preformed allyl metal reagents and enables the direct conversion of primary alcohols to secondary homoallylic alcohols.
