Light yellow, air-sensitive single-crystals of the rhodium(III) orthoperiodato K₈[Rh(IO₆)₂]OH·3H₂O were synthesized starting from Rh₂O₃ and KIO₄. The reaction was carried out in a potassium hydroxide hydroflux with a molar water-base ratio of 1.8 at 200°C. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction revealed a triclinic crystal structure (space group P1). The most striking feature of the structure is the [Rh(IO₆)₂]⁷⁻ anion, a linear sequence of three face-sharing octahedra. It can be interpreted as a rhodium(III) cation coordinated by two orthoperiodato groups. A water molecule and a hydroxide ion form an associate (H₃O₂)⁻ .Together with other water molecules, they connect the [Rh-(IO₆)₂]⁷⁻ anions via hydrogen bridges to form layers. Upon heating, the compound first loses its crystal water, then the iodine is gradually reduced before evaporating during the final decomposition step, which results in K₀.₆₃RhO₂. In K₈[Rh-(IO₆)₂]OH·3H₂O, the unusually short Rh/III-I/VII distance of only 276.38(1) pm should allow direct charge transfer in the [Rh(IO6)₂]⁷⁻ anion. An electron-poor rhodium cation, accessible from the side, could be the active center in the rhodiumcatalyzed oxidation of unsaturated organic molecules by periodate.

The last decade has been marked by a large increase of demand for green chemistry processes. Consequently, chemists have focused their efforts on the development of more direct routes toward different classes of targets. In that regard catalysis has played a crucial role at enabling key bond formations that were otherwise inaccessible or very energy and resources consuming. The central theme of this body of work concerns the formation of C–N bonds, either through transition metal catalysis or organocatalysis. These structural units being highly recurrent in biologically active molecules, the establishment of more efficient routes for their construction is indispensable. The first part of this thesis describes a new method for the synthesis of isoquinolines from the oxidative coupling/annulation of alkynes with N-tert-butyl benzaldimines via Rh(III) catalysis (Chapter 2). Preliminary mechanistic investigations of this system pointed to the involvement of Rh(III) in the C–H bond cleavage step as well as in the C–N bond reductive elimination that provides the desired heterocycle. Following this oxidative process, a Rh(III)-catalyzed redox-neutral approach to isoquinolones from the reaction of benzhydroxamic acids with alkynes is presented (Chapter 3). The discovery that an N–O bond contained in the substrate can act as an internal oxidant was found to be very enabling. Indeed, it allowed for milder reaction conditions, broader scope (terminal alkyne and alkene compatible) and low catalyst loadings (0.5 mol%). Mechanistic investigations on this system were also conducted to identify the nature of the C–N bond formation/N–O bond cleavage as well as the rate-determining step. The second part of this work presents mechanistic investigations performed on a recently developed intermolecular hydroamination reaction catalyzed through tethering organocatalysis (Chapter 4). This transformation operates via the reversible covalent attachment of two reactants, a hydroxylamine and an allylamine, to an aldehyde catalyst by the formation of a mixed aminal. This allows a difficult intermolecular Cope-type hydroamination to be performed intramolecularly. The main kinetic parameters associated with this reaction were determined and they allowed the generation of a more accurate catalytic cycle for this transformation. Attempts at developing new families of organocatalysts are also discussed.

The last decade has been marked by a large increase of demand for green chemistry processes. Consequently, chemists have focused their efforts on the development of more direct routes toward different classes of targets. In that regard catalysis has played a crucial role at enabling key bond formations that were otherwise inaccessible or very energy and resources consuming. The central theme of this body of work concerns the formation of C–N bonds, either through transition metal catalysis or organocatalysis. These structural units being highly recurrent in biologically active molecules, the establishment of more efficient routes for their construction is indispensable. The first part of this thesis describes a new method for the synthesis of isoquinolines from the oxidative coupling/annulation of alkynes with N-tert-butyl benzaldimines via Rh(III) catalysis (Chapter 2). Preliminary mechanistic investigations of this system pointed to the involvement of Rh(III) in the C–H bond cleavage step as well as in the C–N bond reductive elimination that provides the desired heterocycle. Following this oxidative process, a Rh(III)-catalyzed redox-neutral approach to isoquinolones from the reaction of benzhydroxamic acids with alkynes is presented (Chapter 3). The discovery that an N–O bond contained in the substrate can act as an internal oxidant was found to be very enabling. Indeed, it allowed for milder reaction conditions, broader scope (terminal alkyne and alkene compatible) and low catalyst loadings (0.5 mol%). Mechanistic investigations on this system were also conducted to identify the nature of the C–N bond formation/N–O bond cleavage as well as the rate-determining step. The second part of this work presents mechanistic investigations performed on a recently developed intermolecular hydroamination reaction catalyzed through tethering organocatalysis (Chapter 4). This transformation operates via the reversible covalent attachment of two reactants, a hydroxylamine and an allylamine, to an aldehyde catalyst by the formation of a mixed aminal. This allows a difficult intermolecular Cope-type hydroamination to be performed intramolecularly. The main kinetic parameters associated with this reaction were determined and they allowed the generation of a more accurate catalytic cycle for this transformation. Attempts at developing new families of organocatalysts are also discussed.

La préparation d'hétérocycles azotés et/ou oxygénés constitue un domaine majeur de la chimie de synthèse. Les alcoxyamines insaturées sont d'intéressants précurseurs pour accéder à ces hétérocycles car elles contiennent à la fois un atome d'azote et un atome d'oxygène au sein de leur structure. La mise en réaction d'alcoxyamines O-insaturées en condition d'activation de liaison C-H en présence de rhodium(III), non étudiée à ce jour, nous a permis de mettre en évidence une réaction d'oxyamination menant à des hétérocycles oxygénés. Nous décrivons dans ce manuscrit le développement de cette réaction d'oxyamination intramoléculaire d'alcoxyamines O-insaturées N-tosylées, catalysée par des complexes de rhodium(III), permettant d'accéder à des tétrahydrofuranes et tétrahydropyranes aminométhylés, motifs présents au sein de composés d'intérêt biologique. Par ailleurs, nous avons développé une nouvelle méthode d'agrandissement de cycle de pyrrolidines 2-iodométhylées N-tosylées, en présence de sels d'argent, permettant d'accéder à des pipéridines fonctionnalisées en position C3 avec de bonnes sélectivités. / The preparation of nitrogen and/or oxygen containing heterocycles is a very important field of synthetic chemistry. Unsaturated alkoxyamines are interesting precursors for the synthesis of those heterocycles as they contain both nitrogen and oxygen atoms in their structure. The reaction of unsaturated alkoxyamines under C-H activation conditions in the presence of rhodium(III), which has not been studied yet, allowed us to discover an oxyamination reaction leading to oxygenated heterocycles. We describe in this manuscript the development of this rhodium(III)-catalyzed O-unsaturated N-tosylated alkoxyamine intramolecular oxyamination reaction allowing access to aminomethylated tetrahydrofuranes and tetrahydropyranes, which are found in biologically interesting compounds. Otherwise, we have developed a new silver mediated 2-iodomethylated N-tosylated pyrrolidine ring expansion reaction leading to C3-functionalized piperidines with good selectivities.

The last decade has been marked by a large increase of demand for green chemistry processes. Consequently, chemists have focused their efforts on the development of more direct routes toward different classes of targets. In that regard catalysis has played a crucial role at enabling key bond formations that were otherwise inaccessible or very energy and resources consuming. The central theme of this body of work concerns the formation of C–N bonds, either through transition metal catalysis or organocatalysis. These structural units being highly recurrent in biologically active molecules, the establishment of more efficient routes for their construction is indispensable. The first part of this thesis describes a new method for the synthesis of isoquinolines from the oxidative coupling/annulation of alkynes with N-tert-butyl benzaldimines via Rh(III) catalysis (Chapter 2). Preliminary mechanistic investigations of this system pointed to the involvement of Rh(III) in the C–H bond cleavage step as well as in the C–N bond reductive elimination that provides the desired heterocycle. Following this oxidative process, a Rh(III)-catalyzed redox-neutral approach to isoquinolones from the reaction of benzhydroxamic acids with alkynes is presented (Chapter 3). The discovery that an N–O bond contained in the substrate can act as an internal oxidant was found to be very enabling. Indeed, it allowed for milder reaction conditions, broader scope (terminal alkyne and alkene compatible) and low catalyst loadings (0.5 mol%). Mechanistic investigations on this system were also conducted to identify the nature of the C–N bond formation/N–O bond cleavage as well as the rate-determining step. The second part of this work presents mechanistic investigations performed on a recently developed intermolecular hydroamination reaction catalyzed through tethering organocatalysis (Chapter 4). This transformation operates via the reversible covalent attachment of two reactants, a hydroxylamine and an allylamine, to an aldehyde catalyst by the formation of a mixed aminal. This allows a difficult intermolecular Cope-type hydroamination to be performed intramolecularly. The main kinetic parameters associated with this reaction were determined and they allowed the generation of a more accurate catalytic cycle for this transformation. Attempts at developing new families of organocatalysts are also discussed.