Aquesta tesi és el reflex que de la cooperació entre grups experimentals i grups teòrics s'aconsegueix l'assoliment d'objectius inassolibles de forma individual. A partir de la DFT s'expliquen processos inorgànics i organometàl·lics de gran valor biològic i/o industrial. La tesi està enfocada especialment a l'estudi de complexos mononuclears i binuclears de coure, on té lloc l'activació d'enllaços C-H, C-C, i O-O. L'estudi de complexos octaèdrics de ruteni ha permès dur a terme extensos estudis isomèrics i racionalitzar les propietats espectroscòpiques dels mateixos. A més a més, estudis més puntuals respecte clusters de coure, l'estudi de la reacció de Pawson-Khand, l'estudi d'enllaços Pt-Pt en complexos trimèrics de platí, a més a més de l'estudi de la isomeria de complexos de Ni i Pt. / This thesis shows that the cooperation between experimental and theoretical groups gives as a result the achievement of aims impossible working independently. From DFT calculations inorganic and organometallic problems related to great biological and industrial processes can be explained. This thesis is especially focused on the study of mononuclear and binuclear copper complexes, where a C-H, C-C, and O-O bond activation takes place. The study of octahedral ruthenium complexes has allowed carrying out isomeric studies and the rationalization of spectroscopic properties. Furthermore, other little studies related to copper clusters, the Pawson-Khand reaction, Pt-Pt bond interaction in trimer platinum complexes, and isomerism of Ni and Pt complexes.

This thesis describes the synthesis and application of a new series of amphiphilic graft copolymers with a hydrophobic polyolefin backbone and pendent hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) grafts. These copolymers are synthesized by ruthenium benzylidene-catalyzed ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of PEG-functionalized cyclic olefin macromonomers to afford polycyclooctene- graft -PEG (PCOE- g -PEG) copolymers with a number of tunable features, such as PEG graft density and length, crystallinity, and amphiphilicity. Macromonomers of this type were prepared first by coupling chemistry using commercially available PEG monomethyl ether derivatives and a carboxylic acid-functionalized cycloctene. In a second approach, macromonomers possessing a variety of PEG lengths were prepared by anionic polymerization of ethylene oxide initiated by cyclooctene alkoxide. This methodology affords a number of benefits compared to coupling chemistry including an expanded PEG molecular weight range, improved hydrolytic stability of the PEG-polycyclooctene linkage, and a reactive hydroxyl end-group functionality for optional attachment of biomolecules and probes. The amphiphilic nature of these graft copolymers was exploited in oil-water interfacial assembly, and the unsaturation present in the polycyclooctene backbone was utilized in covalent cross-linking reactions to afford hollow polymer capsules. In one approach, a bis -cyclooctene PEG derivative was synthesized and co-assembled with PCOE-g-PEG at the oil-water interface. Upon addition of a ruthenium benzylidene catalyst, a cross-linked polymer shell is formed through ring-opening cross-metathesis between the bis -cyclooctene cross-linker and the residual olefins in the graft copolymer. By incorporating a fluorescent-labeled cyclooctene into the graft copolymer, both oil-water interfacial segregation and effective cross-linking were confirmed using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). In a second approach, reactive functionality capable of chemical cross-linking was incorporated directly into the polymer backbone by synthesis and copolymerization of phenyl azide and acyl hydrazine-functional cyclooctene derivatives. Upon assembly, these reactive polymers were cross-linked by photolysis (in the phenyl azide case) or by addition of glutaraldehyde (in the acyl hydrazine case) to form mechanically robust polymer capsules with tunable degradability ( i.e. non-degradable or pH-dependent degradability). This process permits the preparation of both oil-in-water and water-in-oil capsules, thus enabling the encapsulation of hydrophobic or hydrophilic reagents in the capsule core. Furthermore, the assemblies can be sized from tens of microns to the 150 nm - 1 µm size range by either membrane extrusion or ultrasonication techniques. These novel capsules may be well-suited for a number of controlled release applications, where the transport of encapsulated compounds can be regulated by factors such as cross-link density, hydrolytic stability, and environmental triggers such as changes in pH.

In this study a number of cage alkenes were synthesised and tested for activity towards ringopening metathesis polymerisation (ROMP) with the commercially available catalysts 55 (Grubbs-I) and 56 (Grubbs-II). The first group of monomers are derivatives of tetracyclo[6.3.0.04,1105,9]undec-2-en-6-one (1). The synthesis of these cage alkenes are summarised in Scheme 7.1. The cage alkene 126b was synthesised by a Diels-Alder reaction between 1 and hexachlorocyclopentadiene (9, Scheme 7.2). The geometry of 126b was determined from XRD data. Knowledge of the geometry of 126b also established the geometry of 127 since conformational changes during the conversion from 126b to 127 are unlikely. Synthesis of the cage alkene 125 by the cycloaddition of 9 to 118 failed. The cage alkene exo-11- hydroxy-4,5,6,7,16,16-hexachlorohexacyclo[7.6.1.03,8.02,13.010,14]hexa-dec-5-ene (124, Scheme 7.3) could therefore not be prepared. Synthesis of 125 by reduction of 126b with various reduction systems was not successful. Theoretical aspects of these reactions were investigated with molecular modelling. A possible explanation for the unreactive nature of 126b towards reduction is presented, but the lack of reactivity of 118 towards 9 eluded clear explanations. The synthesis of cage alkenes from 4-isopropylidenepentacyclo[5.4.0.02,6.03,10.05,9]-undecane-8,11- dione (23) did not meet with much success (Scheme 7.4). Numerous synthetic methods were investigated to affect the transformation from 134a/134b to 135 (Scheme 7.5). These attempts evolved into theoretical investigations to uncover the reasons for the observed reactivity. Possible explanations were established by considering the differences and similarities between the geometries and electronic structures of reactive and unreactive cage alcohols. ROMP of cage monomers based on 1 were mostly unsuccessful. Only the cage monomer 127 showed some reactivity. Endocyclic cage monomers with a tetracycloundecane (TCU) framework showed no reactivity. The results from NMR experiments verified the experimental results. Hexacyclo[8.4.0.02,9.03,13.04,7.04,12]tetradec-5-en-11,14-dione (3) exhibited notable ROMP reactivity. Examination of the orbitals of the cage alkenes used in this study suggested that the reactivity of 1 and 3 could possibly be enhanced by removal of the carbonyl groups. Decarbonylation of 1 and 3 yielded the cage hydrocarbons 159 and 175, respectively. ROMP tests revealed that 175 is an excellent monomer, but 159 was unreactive. The results obtained for the ROMP reactions in this study was rationalised by considering aspects such as ring strain, energy profiles, steric constraints, and frontier orbital theory. The concept of ring strain is less useful when describing the reactivity of cage alkenes towards ROMP and therefore the concepts of fractional ring strain and fractional ring strain energy (RSEf) were developed. A possible link between RSEf and the ROMP reactivity of cage alkenes was also established. The following criteria were put forth to predict the reactivity or explain the lack of reactivity of cage alkenes towards ROMP reactions with Grubbs-I and Grubbs-II. The criteria for ROMP of cage monomers: 1. Sufficient fractional ring strain energy (RSEf). 2. A reasonable energy profile when compared to a reference compound such as cyclopentene. 3. Ability to form a metallacyclobutane intermediate with reasonable distances between different parts of the cage fragment. 4. Sufficient ability of the polymer fragment to take on a conformation that exposes the catalytic site. 5. Sufficient size, shape, orientation and energy of HOMO and/or NHOMO at the alkene functionality of the cage monomer and of the LUMO at the catalytic site. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Chemistry))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

In binyan hitpa'el, the reflexive and reciprocal verbal conjugation in Modern Hebrew, the /t/ of the /hit-/ prefix categorically metathesizes with a following sibilant (/s/, /z/, /∫/, or /t⁀s/), giving forms like [histakel] instead of expected forms like *[hitsakel]. It has been theorized that this metathesis may be perceptual, serving to place the /-t-/ in prevocalic position where it can be better perceived by listeners, the direction of metathesis being the more common sibilant + stop sequence in Modern Hebrew (Hume 2004), or that it may be auditory, based on a tendency for the sibilant noise to decouple from the rest of the speech stream, resulting in listener confusion about the place of the sibilant within the word (Blevins & Garrett 2004). Based on data from a speech perception experiment using English speakers, who listened to masked stimuli similar to hitpa'el verbs, I argue that Blevins & Garrett (2004)'s account is correct, with English speaking listeners evincing a tendency to misperceive stop + sibilant sequences as sibilant + stop sequences, despite the higher frequency of stop + sibilant sequences in English.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Owing to its unique electronic properties, the CF₂ group has the potential to affect the conformation and polarity of molecules. The Introduction provides an overview of the conformational effects induced by the incorporation of fluorine into hydrocarbons, e.g. gauche effect, 1,3-C,F bond repulsion and angle deviation in organofluorine compounds. A summary of synthetic strategies for the introduction of the gem-difluoride motif into organic molecules is also presented. In order to explore the conformational impact of the CF₂ group in alicyclic hydrocarbon systems, cyclododecane was employed as the molecular framework. In 1,1,4,4- and 1,1,7,7- tetrafluorocyclododecanes, two CF₂ groups replaced CH₂ units within the square [3333] cyclododecane ring where the spacing enables the CF₂ groups to occupy adjacent or opposite corner locations. In the case of 1,1,6,6-tetrafluorocyclododecane, one of the CF₂ groups was forced to the edge position, which changes the ring conformation dramatically. Strategic incorporation of two CF₂ groups is shown to either stabilise or significantly alter the conformation of the cyclododecane framework, a revealing conformational preference of the CF₂ group to locate at the corner rather than the edge position of hydrocarbon rings. The study extends to larger cycloalkanes, rectangular [3434] cyclotetradecanes and square [4444] cyclohexadecanes. The target cycloalkanes bearing two CF₂ units were assembled through a novel synthetic route, employing ring-closing metathesis (RCM) as the key step. X-Ray structure analyses revealed that the CF₂ groups occupy exclusively corner locations of these rings too. The spacing between the CF₂ moieties dictates the overall ring conformations and offers a useful tool for controlling molecular arrangement. An accelerating role of the CF₂ group, relative to the CH₂ group, on the ring-closing metathesis of C5-substituted 1,8-nonadienes has also been studied. Remarkably, the CF₂ group exhibited a similar reaction rate to that observed for nonadienes bearing 1,3-dioxolane or dimethylmalonate groups. This effect was rationalised by the thermodynamic stability of the cycloheptene products, rather than a Thorpe-Ingold effect.

The ever increasing demand for more efficient and environmentally benign routes for synthesizing target compounds, has led to the use of organometallic catalysts. This demand has created the need to understand the mechanistic details that are at work in these organometallic catalytic cycles. Along with this, there is a demand for new organometallic catalysts that are tailored for specific transformations. This presents a myriad of challenges for organometallic chemists. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to gain an understanding of the reaction mechanisms at work when the intermediates are too short lived to be observed in the condensed phase. It is also very time consuming to synthesize, purify, and characterize organometallic catalysts following standard condensed phase methods. Therefore, it would be beneficial to probe organometallic reactions in a way that the inherent reactivity of the organometallic complex can be uncovered and where purity is not a prerequisite. Using an ion-trap mass spectrometer that has been modified to allow introduction of neutral reagents to the buffer gas, organometallic ion-molecule reactions can be probed in an environment free from solvation effects. This enables the study of the inherent reactivity of the complexes and also provides insight into reaction mechanisms by allowing reactive intermediates to be probed. In addition, organometallic complexes probed in this manner do not need to be pure due to ability of the ion trap to function as a mass filter. This results in a quick and efficient method. This dissertation presents results found during the investigation of the reactions and mechanistic details of gold, silver, and iridium complexes using a modified ion-trap mass spectrometer.

La formation de liaisons C-C constitue un sujet de recherche primordial en chimie organique. Parmitoutes les techniques existantes, la métathèse d’oléfines a constitué une véritable révolution, notamment grâceau développement de catalyseurs efficaces et tolérants vis-à-vis de bon nombre de groupements fonctionnels.Cette réaction a été envisagée ici sur trois cibles d’intérêt biologique : la diospongine A, la nhatrangine A et leberkeleyamide A.De nombreuses molécules naturelles bioactives appartiennent aux familles des 1,7-diarylheptanoïdes et1,9-diarylnonanoïdes. Issue de la première, la diospongine A a dévoilé des propriétés anti-ostéoporotiquesprometteuses. A l’inverse, aucun produit naturel 1,8-diaryloctanoïde n’a encore été rapporté. Désireux d’étudier lapotentielle activité de tels composés, plusieurs séries d’homologues de la diospongine A ont été synthétisées,impliquant la formation d’intermédiaires tétrahydropyraniques communs par cyclisation de Prins, suivi d’uneséquence métathèse croisée / oxydation de Wacker, permettant ainsi l’introduction de la diversité chimique.La nhatrangine A, récemment isolée de la cyanobactérie Lyngbya majuscula, a montré une potentielleactivité contre la lignée cancéreuse CoL-2. Aucune synthèse n’ayant encore été rapportée, quatre déconnectionsont ici été envisagées, impliquant respectivement une métathèse cyclisante, une métathèse croisée, une additionde Michael énantiosélective organocatalysée ou encore une alkylation diastéréosélective selon Myers commeétape clé. Toutes ces approches ont en commun l’utilisation d’une réaction de trans aldolisation. Un intermédiaireavancé a ainsi pu être synthétisé.Le berkeleyamide A, isolé du champignon Penicillium rubrum, est une molécule possédant une activitéinhibitrice micromolaire des enzymes MMP-3 et caspases-1, impliquées notamment dans la croissance descellules cancéreuses. Trois synthèses de ce composé sont déjà décrites dans la littérature, toutes démarrant dupool chiral. Deux approches « rétron » sont ici proposées, impliquant notamment une allylation diastéréosélectived’imine, une métathèse croisée et une cyclisation de type Heck. Le squelette carboné de la molécule a ainsi étéobtenu. / C-C bond formation constitutes a key research field of organic chemistry. Among all existing techniques, olefinmetathesis turned out to be a revolution, especially since efficient and functional groups tolerant catalysts havebeen developed. Herein, the application of this reaction has been considered to three targets of biological interest:diospongin A, nhatrangin A and berkeleyamide A.Numerous bioactive natural products belong to 1,7-diarylheptanoïd or 1,9-diarylnonanoïd families.Springing from the first one, diospongin A revealed promising anti-osteoporotic properties. Conversely, no naturalproduct from 1,8-diaryloctanoïds has been reported to date. Willing to study the potential activity of suchcompounds, several diospongin A homologues series have been synthesized, involving especially a Prinscyclisation for the formation of a common tetrahydropyran scaffold, followed by a cross metathesis / Wackeroxidation sequence, for the introduction of the chemical diversity.Nhatrangin A, recently isolated from the cyanobacteria Lyngbya majuscula, has showed a potentialactivity against the CoL-2 human cancer cell line. As no total synthesis of this molecule has been reported todate, four disconnections have been considered herein, respectively involving a ring closing metathesis, a crossmetathesis, an enantioselective organocatalysed Michael addition or a Myers diastereoselective alkylation as keystep. All these approaches have in common the use of a trans aldol reaction. An advanced intermediate has thusbeen obtained.Berkeleyamide A, isolated from the fungus Penicillium rubrum, possess a micromolar inhibitive activitytoward MMP-3 and caspases-1 enzymes, taking part in particular in cancer cells growth. Three total synthesis ofthis molecule have already been reported, all sharing to start from the chiral pool. Two “retron” approaches havebeen considered herein, involving especially an imine diastereoselective allylation, a cross metathesis and a Hecktype cyclisation. This led to the obtaining of the carbon backbone of the molecule.

Student Number : 0002306V - MSc dissertation - School of Chemistry - Faculty of Science / The first part of the dissertation involves the use of ring closing metathesis (RCM) and ruthenium mediated isomerisation-RCM tandem reactions to form a wide range of nitrogencontaining benzo-fused heterocycles. Those synthesized include the 6-membered isoquinolines, the 7-membered benzazepines and the 8-membered benzazocines. In order to put these compounds into perspective, a review of selected naturally occurring nitrogencontaining benzo-fused heterocycles is included along with some of their synthetic approaches. Of major significance is our utilization of the Wits methodology allowing one to access the 6-, 7- and 8-membered ring systems from a common synthetic intermediate. The 1,2,3,6-tetrahydro-2-benzazocines were all obtained after RCM in excellent yields (82-99%). We were also able to show that some ofthe protecting groups used were easily removed and that the ring could be hydrogenated after RCM to yield the 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexahydro-2- benzazocines. The isoquinolines were synthesized in 78% and 27% yield for the Ac- and Tsprotected compounds respectively, with no product isolated for the Boc- or SO2Bn-protected compounds. These poor results, caused a change to our strategy and we then used a “combinatorial-type” approach for the synthesis of the 2,5-dihydro-1H-2-benzazepines and the 2,3-dihydro-1H-2-benzazepines with yield of 9, 47, 58 and 82% and 8, 26, 39 and 82% obtained respectively for the RCM reaction Futhermore, we attempted the synthesis of the substituted 4-phenyl isoquinolines and 5-phenyl benzazepines, but we found that the systems would not undergo RCM even at high temperatures and with large amounts of Grubbs II metathesis catalyst. A short review is given in the second part of the dissertation concerning the naturally occurring and pharmaceutically useful indenols, indenones and indanones. It further highlights how our methodology was extended to include the synthesis of 4-isopropoxy-5- methoxy-1H-inden-1-ol (X), 4-isopropoxy-5-methoxy-1H-inden-1-one (X) and 4-isopropoxy- 5-methoxy-1H-indanone (X) through the use of ruthenium-mediated isomerisation and RCM from a similar common intermediate. We have shown the synthesis of 3-substituted indenols, indenones and indanones using the same synthetic procedure, but by changing the reaction temperature during RCM. This dissertation also answers many of the questions posed during the post-doctoral work of Coyanis. Namely, we were able to support our proposed mechanism that the conversion of the unsubstituted indenol to the indenone was occurring via a dehydrogenative-oxidation, through the use of 1H NMR studies that were coupled with an ICP-MS analysis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported use of the Grubbs II catalyst (or its degradation products) in a tandem RCM-oxidation procedure by our group recently.

Après avoir exposé les enjeux de ce travail en présentant dans le chapitre 1 les produits naturels possédant le motif tétrahydroisoquinoléinique, leurs intérêts pharmacologiques et leur unique voie d'accès via la réaction de Pictet Spengler, nous avons présenté la synthèse énantiosélective de tétrahydroisoquinoléine 1,3-disubstituées et différentes tentatives d'obtention des motifs pentacycliques de différents alcaloïdes d'intérêt biologique. La synthèse énantiosélective de tétrahydroisoquinoléines 1,3-disubstituées a été effectuée en 6 étapes utilisant deux étapes clés. Une alkylation catalysée par transfert de phase permet de créer un centre asymétrique et une cyclisation pallado-catalysée permet d'accéder au motif tétrahydroisoquinoléinique. Dans la suite, les différentes voies d'accès testées permettant d'accéder au motif pentacyclique n'ont pas été couronnées de succès. Dans un second temps ont été exposées les différentes sources de composés possédant un motif spirocétalique, leurs propriétés électroniques et conformationnelles. Les différentes voies de synthèse de spirocétals ont été présentées. Les différentes voies de synthèse d'a-hétérofuranes ont été introduites en se concentrant sur les dérivés soufrés, azotés et oxygénés. L'utilisation des a­ alcoxyfuranes en réaction de cycloaddition a ensuite été présentée ainsi que l'utilisation des adduits. Enfin la réaction de RRM a été étudiée en se focalisant sur les réactifs à forte tension de cycle. Différentes voies de synthèse des a-alcoxyfuranes ont été exposées. Une voie d'accès générale a été développée par réaction d'addition/élimination sur le 2,5-diméthoxy-2,5-dihydro-2-furanoate de méthyle. La séquence cycloaddition [4+2] ou [4+3]1 RRM a été ensuite présentée permettant d'accéder aux spirocétals (5,6) et (6,6). L'application de cette méthodologie à la synthèse des aculéatines et des aculéatols, est étudiée. / Alkaloids from the family of the tetrahydroisoquinolins exhibit powerful antitumor and antibiotic activities. For 25 years, numerous laboratories led their efforts to synthesize these functionalized polycyclic molecules. Usually the strategy used to prepare these is based on a Pictet-Spengler reaction allowing the first ring system of the tetrahydroisoquinoline moiety to be installed. The main drawback of this reaction is the need of an electron rich aromatic ring to attack the iminium intermediate. The main purpose of this thesis is the synthesis of compounds of this family of natural substances without the limited step to access to new analogs. The total synthesis of the Jorumycine is based on a key step of a ring closing metathesis, a reaction developed by R. Grubbs, R. Shrock and Y. Chauvin who obtained the Nobel prize of Chemistry in 2005. This reaction has been successfully done on a corresponding substrate in the laboratory but the next steps involving a ring contraction and a transannular cyclization seemed to be problematic. This strategy includes an enantioselective synthesis of 1,3-disubstitued tetrahydroisoquinoline that have been done for the first time to our knowledge. In the same time, we tried to synthesize the tetracyclic structure of the Lemonomycine through a nitroso Diels-Alder strategy. This molecule has already been prepared in other groups but the methods didn’t allowed the scale up nor the synthesis of analogs. The strategy was focused on the synthesis of a dihydropinoisoquinolinone moiety that has never yet been prepared via a ring closing metathesis reaction. Spiroketal compounds are widely present in nature as pheromones of insects, steroids of the family of the saponins and in a lot of natural products isolated from marine organisms. A lot of natural substances are bearing the spiroketalic moiety in the non-anomeric configuration meaning that at least one oxygen atom is in the axial conformation despite the stabilization by anomeric effect. To our knowledge, there are only two published strategies to prepare contrathermodynamic non-anomeric spiroketals but these methods are neither general nor rationalized. The Ring Rearrangement Metathesis reaction allows access to these structures from alpha-alkoxyfuran derivatives. Although the alpha-alkoxyfuran derivatives are relatively simple structures, there are no efficient and general synthetic methods to prepare them. We developed a simple access that will be presented along with their use in a [4+2] cycloaddition/RRM sequence.