Nucleophilic additions are an important class of reactions in the preparation of several organic compounds. Metals facilitate nucleophilic additions in many cases. The present work Mechanistic Investigation of Metal Promoted Nucleophilic additions is an attempt to understand the mechanism of nucleophilic additions to imines and carbonyl compounds mediated by the transition metal complexes. Understanding the mechanism of metal promoted nucleophilic additions can facilitate the design and synthesis of more efficient catalysts. Chapter 1 provides a brief introduction to nucleophilic addition. A few named reactions that involve nucleophilic addition are described. An overview of the metal promoted nucleophilic addition reactions and their mechanisms are presented. A short note on the importance of understanding the mechanism of metal promoted nucleophilic addition is included. This section ends with the scope of the present work. Chapter 2 “Mechanistic Investigation of Titanium Mediated Reactions of Imines” deals with two reactions. The first reaction is the formation of reduced amines on reduction of imines. Amines and diamines are synthesized often from imines. A convenient route to such nitrogen containing compounds is through reduction of imines and through reductive coupling of imines respectively. Since both reactions occur in a parallel fashion, during the synthesis of diamines, amines are obtained as side products and vice versa. This problem is acute in the case of titanium based reducing agents. These reducing agents are called low valent titanium reagents because low valent titanium species are generated in situ either from titanium(IV) or titanium(III) reagents. There is no clear understanding of the nature of the low valent titanium involved in the reaction. To rectify this, a mechanistic understanding of this reaction is essential. An attempt was made to probe the mechanism of formation of amines using low valent titanium formed by using two different reducing agents namely phenylsilane and zinc. With the help of isotopic labelling studies, it was found that the mechanism of formation of an amine with phenylsilane involves a direct hydrogen transfer from phenylsilane to an imine. This was verified using deuterium labelled phenylsilane. With zinc, it follows a traditional titanacycle pathway which was verified by quenching with the deuterium oxide. A second reaction that has been probed is the alkylation of imines by Grignard reagents using chiral titanium complexes. Alkylation of imines is one of the suitable routes to prepare chiral amines. Alkylation of imines employing a Grignard reagent with Ti(OiPr)4 can proceed through two different pathways depending on the amount of the Grignard reagent used. Alkylation reaction with one equivalent of Grignard reagent can proceed through a Ti(IV) species and the alkylation reaction with two equivalents of the Grignard reagent can proceed through a Ti(II) species. The reaction proceeding through Ti(IV) is less wasteful as it only requires one equivalent of the Grignard reagent. The two pathways differ from each other in the nature of the transition state where the C-C bond is formed. To verify the favourable pathway, chiral titanium complexes were prepared and alkylation carried out. The alkylation results suggest that one equivalent of Grignard is sufficient to give good yields of the alkylated product and the reaction may proceed through a Ti(IV) promoted path. It was reported in the literature that at least three equivalents of Grignard reagent are required to get good yields of the alkylated product with zirconium complexes. This work suggests a greener alternate to alkylation of imines. Chapter 3 “Asymmetric Transfer Hydrogenation Reaction of Ketones in Water” deals with the synthesis of chiral ruthenium half-sandwich complexes employing a proline diamine ligand which has phenyl, ethyl, benzyl, or hydrogen as a substituent. These complexes were characterized by X-ray diffraction. In addition, all these complexes were obtained as single diastereoisomers. These complexes were used as catalysts for the reduction of a variety of ketones to chiral alcohols in water using sodium formate as a hydride source. Stoichiometric reaction between sodium formate and the catalysts showed the formation of hydride complexes as the active species. Based on the electronic effects observed, the key step is found to be a nucleophilic attack of hydride on the carbonyl carbon of ketones. In the transfer hydrogenation reaction with DCOONa, more of 1-phenylethanol- 1-2H1 was observed with all the ruthenium catalysts suggesting that the hydrogen from sodium formate is transformed into a metal hydride which is subsequently transferred to the ketones to form chiral alcohols. The catalysts were optimized with acetophenone as a model substrate. Only in the case of a catalyst which has a phenyl substituent, silver nitrate was found to enhance the formation of aqua complex which in turn resulted in good yields of the chiral alcohols. Among all the complexes studied, the catalyst bearing a phenyl group induces greatest enantioselectivity. It can also be recycled. Chapter 4 “On the Formation of a Ruthenium-PPh2H Complex Using 1- Phenylethane-1,2-diol” deals with the mechanism of formation of PPh2H from PPh2Cl. This unique transformation involves a ruthenium-cymene dimer, PPh2Cl and 1-phenylethane-1,2- diol. In the attempted synthesis of a ruthenium bisphosphinite complex, using the ruthenium-cymene dimer, chlorodiphenylphosphine and 1-phenylethane-1,2-diol, the formation of [Ru(η6-cymene)Cl2PPh2H] was observed in good yield. Formation of the expected ruthenium bisphosphinite complex was not observed. The reaction was carried out in the absence of 1-phenylethane-1,2-diol resulted in the formation of [Ru(η6- cymene)Cl2PPh2Cl] suggests that the diol acts as a reducing agent. To verify the source of hydrogen in the 1-phenylethane-1,2-diol, deuterated diols were prepared. The reactions with the deuterated diols revealed several interesting aspects of the formation of the Ru-PPh2H complex. Chapter 5 “Mechanistic Studies on the Diazo Transfer Reaction” deals with the synthesis of labelled azides and the labelled azidating reagent to probe the mechanism of the diazo transfer reaction. Azides are important precursors used for a variety of chemical transformations including the celebrated Cu(I) catalyzed click reaction. Azides are also used as protecting groups for amines as they can be conveniently reduced to amines. Azidation of amines usually yield azides, with retention of stereochemistry. There is a possibility that the azide formation can occur through the SNi mechanism with retention of configuration where nitrogen in the starting material will not be retained after forming an azide. The reaction was carried out with 13C and 15N labelled L-valine and L-isoleucine to probe this possibility. The resultant labelled azide has 15N retained in its position. This excluded the SNi pathway. To show where the nucleophilic amine group is attacking the azide, labelled imidazole-1¬sulfonyl azide was synthesized from NaN215N. Reactions were carried out with L-valine (labelled and unlabelled) in the presence of a metal catalyst and with unlabelled L-valine in the absence of catalyst. These results confirm the postulated pathways described in the literature.

Ce travail de recherche est consacré au développement de catalyseurs à base de métaux de transition abondants de la première rangée du tableau périodique, tels que Mn, Fe, et Ni, pour les réactions d'hydro-élémentation. Tout d'abord, l'hydrosilylation de cétones et d'aldéhydes a été accomplie en utilisant un système catalytique simple Ni(OAc)₂ 4H2O/PCy₃ avec le PMHS, silane peu coûteux et stable en tant que source d'hydrure. L'amination réductrice d'aldéhydes avec des amines a également été réalisée avec le même système catalytique et le TMDS, comme silane. Deuxièmement, l’efficacité des complexes de manganèse demi-sandwich CpMn(CO)₂(IMes) a été prouvée pour la réduction des aldéhydes et des cétones en présence de Ph₂SiH₂ (1,5 équiv.) sous irradiation UV. La transformation difficile d'acides carboxyliques en aldéhydes a été effectuée à l'aide de Mn₂(CO)₁₀ et de Et3SiH. Troisièmement, la méthylation des amines secondaires avec le carbonate de diméthyle en tant que source C1 a été démontrée dans des conditions catalytique douces avec [CpFe(CO)₂(IMes)]I. Ensuite, l'hydroboration d'alcènes et d'alcynes fonctionnalisés a été réalisée en présence d’un complexe de fer (0), Fe(CO)₄(IMes) sous irradiation UV. Enfin, la réaction d'hydroboration a été étendue avec succès à la réduction de CO₂ en methoxyboranes avec Fe(CO)₃[P(OPh)₃]₂ en tant que catalyseur et les diverses sources de borane, tels que HBpin, HBcat ou 9-BBN. / This research work deals with the use of the catalysts based on the earth-abundant transition metals of the first row of the periodic table, such as Mn, Fe, and Ni, for hydroelementation reactions. First of all, the hydrosilylation of aldehydes and ketones was accomplished using a simple Ni(OAc)₂ 4H₂O/PCy₃ catalytic system with the inexpensive and stable silane PMHS as the hydride source. The reductive amination of aldehydes with amines was also achieved with the same catalytic system and TMDS, as the silane. Second, the efficiency of manganese half-sandwich complex CpMn(CO)₂(IMes) was exemplified for the reduction of aldehydes and ketones in the presence of Ph ₂ SiH ₂ (1.5 equiv.) under UV irradiation at room temperature. Still with manganese, the challenging transformation of carboxylic acids to aldehydes was performed using commercial Mn₂ (CO)₁₀ and Et₃SiH. Third, the methylation of the secondary amines with dimethyl carbonate as an alternative and safe C1 source was demonstrated under mild conditions with [CpFe(CO)₂(IMes)]I as the catalyst. Then, the hydroboration of functionalized alkenes and alkynes was catalyzed by an iron(0) carbonyl complex Fe(CO)₄(IMes) under UV irradiation. Finally, the hydroboration reaction was successfully extended to the reduction of CO₂ to methoxyboranes with Fe(CO)₃[P(OPh)₃]₂ as the catalyst and the borane sources, such as HBpin, HBcat or 9-BBN.

A técnica de confinamento de folhas de plantas em câmara de Teflon rígido (cuvette), com visor em vidro, submetida a um fluxo contínuo de ar foi adotada na avaliação da emissão de compostos carbonílicos voláteis por plantas. Os carbonílicos foram coletados sobre sílica impregnada com o reagente derivatizante 2,4-dinitrofenilhidrazina e analisados por cromatografia a líquido de alto desempenho e detecção por ultravioleta. Foram identificados e quantificados aldeídos alifáticos saturados (C1 a C6) e insaturados (acroleína, metacroleína, crotonaldeído), benzaldeído, acetona e 2-butanona. A temperatura ambiente e na superfície das folhas, a umidade relativa do ar, a intensidade da luz solar e os níveis de ozônio e de óxidos de nitrogênio no ar foram monitorados durante as coletas de amostras. Com o objetivo de avaliar os níveis de fundo de carbonílicos no sistema coletor empregado, 29 amostras de ar foram coletadas sem a introdução de folhas de planta no cuvette, em condições ambientais de laboratório e campo. Uma avaliação estatística dos resultados indicou que os níveis de fundo do cuvette vazio foram próximos a zero nas coletas feitas no laboratório e aumentaram de acordo com o aumento da intensidade da luz solar nas coletas em campo. Esses resultados mostraram que a exposição do cuvette à radiação solar conduz à formação de artefato positivo de amostragem. Foram feitas medidas da emissão de carbonílicos pela espécie Ficus benjamina, para a qual foram observadas taxas de emissão de acetaldeído altas em condições de temperatura na superfície das folhas superior a 40°C. Na ausência de luz solar incidente, não foi observada emissão de carbonílicos pelo exemplar avaliado dessa espécie. Foram feitas também medidas da emissão de carbonílicos pelas seguintes espécies de plantas ocorrentes na vegetação nativa da Região Metropolitana de São Paulo: Cecropia pachystachya, Casearia sylvestris, Croton floribundus, Solanum erianthum, Alchornea sidifolia, Syagrus rommanzoffiana e Ficus insipida, para as quais foram observadas taxas de emissão de carbonílicos que variaram entre 1,5 10-2 e 2,3 µgC g-1 h-1. / The leaf enclosure technique in air flow-through rigid Teflon chamber (cuvette) was employed to evaluate volatile carbonyl compound emission from plants. The gaseous carbonyl compounds were collected on silica gel coated with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography with ultra-violet detection. The identified and quantified carbonyls were saturated (C1 - C6) and unsaturated (acrolein, methacrolein, crotonaldehyde) aliphatic aldehydes, benzaldehyde, acetone and 2-butanone. Ambient and leaf surface temperatures, relative humidity, light intensity, ozone and nitrogen oxides air levels were monitored during carbonyl emission sampling. With the aim of evaluate the collection system carbonyl background leveIs, 29 air samples were collected from the empty cuvette under laboratory and field conditions. Statistical analysis of the data indicated that the cuvette background leveIs were close to zero under laboratory conditions and increased with the increasing of the sunlight intensity under field conditions. These results showed that the cuvette exposition to the sunlight leaded to positive sampling artifact. Carbonyl compound emission from Ficus benjamina species was measured and high acetaldehyde emission rates were observed under leaf surface temperature higher than 40°C. In the absence of direct sunlight no carbonyl emission was measured from the evaluated individual of Ficus benjamina. Also carbonyI emissions from the following native species in the metropolitan region of São Paulo City were measured: Cecropia pachystachya, Casearia sylvestris, Croton floribundus, Solanum erianthum, Alchornea sidifolia, Syagrus rommanzoffzana e Ficus insípida. The observed rate emissions from these plants ranged between 1,5 10 -2 and 2,3 µgC g-1 h-1.

Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science Department of Organic Chemistry Ing. Yana Chernykh Sulfur-Based Reagents for Nucleophilic and Radical Introduction of Tetrafluoroethyl and Tetrafluoroethylene Groups Ph.D. Thesis Prague 2014 ABSTRACT This project was aimed at developing new methodologies for selective introduction of tetrafluoroethyl and tetrafluoroethylene groups into organic molecules. The study was focused on reactivities of fluorinated sulfones and sulfides as tetrafluoroalkylation reagents. In the Introduction part of the thesis, main aspects of organofluorine chemistry are outlined, illustrating beneficial effects of fluorine atoms on physical, chemical and biological properties of organic compounds. General synthetic methods for the selective introduction of fluorine atoms and fluoroalkyl groups to organic molecules are described. Particular attention is given to reactivity and applications of CF2CF2-containing compounds, indicating challenges in synthetic approaches toward tetrafluoroalkylation. The Results and discussion part describes reactivities of four new fluorinated organosulfur reagents as tetrafluoroethyl and tetrafluoroethylene building blocks. The application of these reagents as various carbanionic or radical synthons proved to be effective for the incorporation of CF2CF2...

<p>Canines can detect different diseases simply by smelling different biological sample types, including  urine,  breath  and  sweat.  This  has  led  researchers  to  try  and  discovery  unique  volatile  organic compound (VOC) biomarkers. The power of VOC biomarkers lies in the fact that one day they may be able to be utilized for noninvasive, rapid and accurate diagnostics at a point of care using  miniaturized  biosensors.  However,  the  identity  of  the  specific  VOC  biomarkers  must  be  demonstrated before designing and fabricating sensing systems. Through  an  extensive  series  of  experiments,  VOCs  in  urine  are  profiled  by  solid  phase  microextraction (SPME) coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to identify biomarkers for breast cancer using murine models. The results from these experiments indicated that  unique  classes  of  urinary  VOCs,  primarily  terpene/terpenoids  and  carbonyls,  are  potential  biomarkers  of  breast  cancer.  Through  implementing  chemometric  approaches,  unique  panels  of  VOCs  were  identified  for  breast  cancer  detection,  identifying  tumor  location,  determining  the  efficacy of dopaminergic antitumor treatments, and tracking cancer progression. Other diseases, including COVID-19 and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) were also probed to identify volatile biomarkers present in breath samples.  VOC biomarker identification is an important step toward developing portable gas sensors, but  another  hurdle  that  exists  is  that  current  sensors  lack  selectivity  toward  specific  VOCs  of  interest.  Furthermore,  testing  sensors  for  sensitivity  and  selectivity  is  an  extensive  process  as  VOCs  must  be  tested  individually  because  the  sensors  do  not  have  modes  of  chromatographic  separation or compound identification. Another set of experiments is presented to demonstrate that SPME  fibers  can  be  coated  with  materials,  used  to  extract  standard  solutions  of  VOCs,  and  analyzed  by  GC-MS  to  determine  the  performance  of  various  gas  sensing  layers.  In  the  first  of  these  experiments,  polyetherimide  (PEI)  was  coated  onto  a  SPME  fiber  and  compared  to  commercial polyacrylate (PAA) fibers. The second experiment tuned the extraction efficiency of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) - carbon black (CB) composites and showed that they had higher sensitivity  for  urinary  VOC  extraction  relative  to  a  polydimethylsiloxane  (PDMS)  SPME  fiber.  These results demonstrate SPME GC-MS can rapidly characterize and tune the VOC adsorption capabilities of gas sensing layers. </p>

Formaldehyde is a chemical used widely in the manufacture of building materials. A remarkable example is represented by the Lucite two-step Alpha technology for the large scale production of methyl methacrylate (MMA), the essential building block of all acrylic-based products. Esters and ketones are important intermediates in the manufacture of acrylate esters therefore α-hydroxymethylenation of carbonyl compounds using formaldehyde as a one carbon alkylating agent and subsequent dehydration to the corresponding methylenated derivatives has been explored in the current work. We report a novel catalytic approach for the synthesis of methyl methacrylate (MMA) via one-pot α-methylenation of methyl propanoate (a chemical intermediate of the ALPHA process) with formaldehyde, generated in situ by Ru-catalysed dehydrogenation of methanol. Elucidation of the mechanism involved in the catalytic dehydrogenation of methanol along with the collateral alcohol decarbonylation reaction was gained through a combined experimental and DFT study. The development of an alternative process where anhydrous formaldehyde is produced in situ would provide a simplification over the current second step of the ALPHA technology where the formaldehyde is initially produced as formalin, subsequently dehydrated to afford anhydrous formaldehyde in order to ensure high selectivity to MMA. As an alternative approach, ketones, in particular 3-pentanone and 2-butanone, were targeted as potential substrates in order to overcome some of the problems related to competing reactions that occur at the ester group. Hydroxymethylenation, followed by dehydration and Baeyer-Villager oxidation, possibly catalysed by enzymes to reverse the normal selectivity, leads to the formation of acrylate esters. The catalytic reaction is enabled by a gold carbene hydroxide complex in such a way that the substrate undergoes C-H activation and the nascent metal alkyl acts as a nucleophile towards the electrophilic formaldehyde, supplied in the form of alcoform* (solution of paraformaldehyde in methanol).

Le secteur des transports est soumis à des réglementations sévères visant à limiter les émissions polluantes à l’échappement. Les biocarburants ont reçu une attention particulière en tant que carburant de substitution ou additif aux carburants traditionnels dans l’espoir de remédier aux problèmes de l’épuisement des ressources fossiles et des émissions de certains polluants. Cette thèse a pour objectif principal d’étudier l’impact de l’incorporation des biocarburants oxygénés ou synthétiques aux carburants traditionnels sur les émissions de polluants non réglementés à savoir les composés carbonylés (aldéhydes et cétones) et les hydrocarbures aromatiques polycycliques (HAPs) adsorbés sur la suie. Dans un premier temps, une étude a été menée dans une chambre de combustion interne. Les prélèvements des gaz à l’échappement suivis par les analyses chromatographiques en phase liquide ont permis d’évaluer l’effet de l’additivation du carburant sur les émissions de composés carbonylés. Une deuxième étude a été menée au moyen d’un brûleur à flamme plate permettant de collecter des suies de flammes riches dans des conditions stabilisées. Les mesures effectuées ont permis de déterminer l’effet de l’incorporation des biocarburants oxygénés au carburant sur la production de suie et le contenu d’HAPs adsorbés. Ce travail a été complété par l’étude de la cinétique d’oxydation de trois additifs oxygénés à l’état pur en réacteur auto-agité à pression atmosphérique et dans un large domaine de températures (530-1280 K) et de richesses (0,5-4). Les profils de concentration des réactifs, produits et principaux intermédiaires stables ont été obtenus par spectrométrie infrarouge à transformée de Fourrier (IRTF) et chromatographie en phase gazeuse. Ces résultats ont été ensuite confrontés aux profils d’espèces obtenus par simulation, à l’aide des modèles cinétiques d’oxydation disponibles dans la littérature. / The transport sector is subject to strict regulations aiming at limiting pollutants emissions. Biofuels have received particular attention as alternative fuel or additive to traditional fuels for remedying two issues: the depletion of fossil resources and emissions of certain pollutants. In this work we studied the impact of blending conventional fuels with synthetic or oxygenated biofuels on the emissions of non-regulated pollutants, namely carbonyl compounds (aldehydes and ketones) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) adsorbed on soot. Firstly, the carbonyl compounds emissions were studied using an internal combustion engine. The carbonyls were collected at the exhaust of a diesel engine running with biofuel blends and analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography. Secondly, the impact of blending the conventional fuel with oxygenated biofuels on soot formation and adsorbed PAHs were studied using a flat flame burner under well stabilized conditions. This work was completed by the study of the kinetics of oxidation of three oxygenated additives in a jet-stirred reactor at atmospheric pressure, over the temperature range 530-1280 K and for different equivalence ratios (0.5-4). The concentration profiles of reactants, products and main stable intermediates were obtained by probe sampling and gas analyses including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and gas phase chromatography. These results were then compared to simulated species concentration profiles obtained using oxidation kinetic models available from the literature.