The 2-aryl-2,3-dihydroquinolin-4(1H)-ones were prepared via acid-catalyzed cyclization of the corresponding 2-aminochalcones, which were in turn, prepared by base-promoted Claisen-Schmidt aldol condensation of 2-aminoacetophenone and benzaldehyde derivatives. The 2-aryl-6,8-dibromo-2,3-dihydroquinolin-4(1H)-ones were prepared by reacting 2-aryl-2,3-dihydroquinolin-4(1H)-ones with N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) in carbon tetrachloride-chloroform mixture at room temperature. The 2-aryl-6,8-dibromo-2,3-dihydroquinolin-4(1H)-ones were subjected to palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction with arylboronic acid using dichlorobis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(II)-tricycohexylphosphine as catalyst mixture and potassium carbonate as a base in dioxane-water under reflux to afford the corresponding novel 2,6,8-triaryl-2,3-dihydroquinolin-4(1H)-ones in a single-pot operation. The latter were subjected to thallium(III) p-tolylsulfonate in dimethoxyethane under reflux to yield the 2,6,8-triarylquinolin-4(1H)-ones. The 2,6,8-triaryl-2,3-dihydroquinolin-4(1H)-ones were treated with molecular iodine in refluxing methanol to afford the corresponding 2,6,8-triaryl-4-methoxyquinolines. All the new compounds were characterized using a combination of 1H NMR & 13C NMR spectroscopy, IR and mass spectroscopic techniques. / Chemistry / M.Sc. (Chemistry)

The problem of the study was manifested in the question: Does the use of the Suzuki violin method of instruction with young children affect achievement in selected academic areas? Also, do children, where parents evidence interest in their school activities, make greater achievement than children where parents do not indicate such an interest?

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Metal nanoparticles have received much interest for their application in catalysis due to high surface-to-volume ratios resulting in more available active sites. Ideally these catalysts are heterogeneous and allow for facile separation from the catalytic reaction mixture making them ideal for industrial application. Dispersed metal nanoparticles are explored due to their high reactivity in solution and are stabilized by surfactants and polymers. However, it is difficult to determine whether or not a catalyst is truly heterogeneous as a certain degree of leaching from the metal nanoparticle is inevitable. Determining the mechanisms involved in nanocatalysis is also a challenge. In this study, a series of dispersed palladium nanocatalysts in the Suzuki reaction with phenylboronic acid and bromobenzene were characterized before and after catalysis to determine what changes occur. Samples where characterized before and after the catalytic reaction by XPS, SEM, and EDS to monitor changes in particle size and composition. Reaction mixtures after catalysis were analyzed by ICP-MS for leached palladium species to determine if concentrations were high enough for homogeneous catalysis to take place. The dispersed palladium nanoparticles studied experienced growth during the catalytic process and a significant amount of leaching. XPS analysis indicates the presence of aromatic species on the particle surface after the catalytic reaction. The aromatic species is likely biphenyl, the product of the catalytic reaction, as the presence of boron and bromine was not found in XPS and EDS analysis.

Catalysis is one of the pillars of the chemical industry. While the use of catalyst is typically recognized in the automobile industry, their impact is more widespread as; catalysts are used in the synthesis of 80% of the US commercial chemicals. Despite the improved selectivity provided by catalyst, process inefficiencies still threaten the sustainability of a number of synthesis methods, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. Recyclable solid supported catalysts offer a unique opportunity to address these inefficiencies. Such systems coupled with continuous synthesis techniques, have the potential to significantly reduce the waste to desired product ratio (E-factor) of the production techniques. This research focuses developing sustainable processes to synthesize organic molecules by using continuous synthesis methods. In doing so, solid supported metal catalyst systems were identified, developed, and implemented to assist in the formation of carbon-carbon bonds. Newly developed systems, which utilized metal nanoparticles, showed reactivity and recyclability, comparable to commercially available catalyst. Nanoparticles are emerging as useful materials in a wide variety of applications including catalysis. These applications include pharmaceutical processes by which complex and useful organic molecules can be prepared. As such, an effective and scalable synthesis method is required for the preparation of nanoparticle catalysts with significant control of the particle size, uniform dispersion, and even distribution of nanoparticles when deposited on the surface of a solid support. This project describes the production of palladium nanoparticles on a variety of solid supports and the evaluation of these nanoparticles for cross coupling reactions. This report highlights novel synthesis techniques used in the formation of palladium nanoparticles using traditional batch reactions. The procedures developed for the batch formation of palladium nanoparticles on different solid supports, such as graphene and carbon nanotubes, are initially described. The major drawbacks of these methods are discussed, including limited scalability, variation of nanoparticle characteristics from batch to batch, and technical challenges associated with efficient heating of samples. Furthermore, the necessary conditions and critical parameters to convert the batch synthesis of solid supported palladium nanoparticles to a continuous flow process are presented. This strategy not only alleviates the challenges associated with the robust preparation of the material and the limitations of scalability, but also showcases a new continuous reactor capable of efficient and direct heating of the reaction mixture under microwave irradiation. This strategy was further used in the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles. Particles synthesized using this strategy as well as traditional synthesis methods, were evaluated in the context industrially relevant applications.

Cross-coupling reactions, where a transition metal catalyst facilitates the formation of a new carbon-carbon or carbon-heteroatom bond between two coupling partners, has become one of the most widely used, reliable, and robust family of transformations for the construction of molecules. The Nobel Prize was awarded to pioneers in this field who primarily used aryl iodides, bromides, and triflates as electrophilic coupling partners. The expansion of the reaction scope to non-traditional electrophiles is an ongoing challenge to enable an even greater number of useful products to be made from simple starting materials. The major goal of this thesis research is to improve and expand upon this field by using esters as electrophiles via the activation of the strong C(acyl)−O bond. Esters are particularly robust in comparison to other carboxylic acid derivatives used in cross-coupling reactions. Success on the activation of such inert functional group using catalysis has both fundamental and practical value. By discovering new reaction modes of this abundant functional group, synthetic routes to access novel or industrially important molecules can be improved. Chapter 1 of this thesis describes a literature overview of what has been accomplished in the field of cross coupling reactions using carboxylic acid derivatives as electrophilic coupling partners. Chapter 2 discloses the first palladium Suzuki-Miyaura couplings of phenyl esters to produce ketones. The method is efficient and robust, giving good yields of useful products. The reaction is proposed to proceed via an oxidative addition to the strong C(acyl)−O bond of the ester. In contrast to previous efforts in this field that use traditional catalysts such as Pd(PPh3)4, the developed reaction requires use of an electron-rich, bulky N-heterocyclic carbene ligand, which facilitates the strong bond activation. Furthermore, a palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling between aryl esters and anilines is reported, enabling access to diverse amides. The reaction takes place via a similar activation of the C−O bond by oxidative addition with a Pd−NHC complex, which enables the use of relatively non-nucleophilic anilines that otherwise require stoichiometric activation with strong bases to react. Chapter 3 discloses a nickel-catalyzed amide bond formation using unactivated and abundant esters. In this transformation, an accessible nickel catalyst can facilitate the activation of diverse aliphatic and aromatic esters to enable direct amide bond formation with amines as nucleophiles. No stoichiometric base, acid, or other activating agent is needed, providing exceptional functional group tolerance and producing only methanol as a by-product. This reaction is of both fundamental and practical importance because it is the first to demonstrate that simple conditions can enable Ni to cleave the C–O bond of an ester to make an oxidative addition product, which can be subsequently coupled with amines. This discovery contrasts industrially-common and wasteful methods that still require stoichiometric activating agents or multistep synthesis. Chapter 4 describes the evaluation of different types of cross-coupling reactions using methyl esters as electrophilic coupling partner. A high-throughput screening technique has been applied to this project. A combination between specific ligands, known by their efficiency to activate strong C−O bonds, and literature-based conditions has been designed for the chosen transformations. Using this strategy, two promising hits have been obtained using the same NHC ligand: a decarbonylative Suzuki-Miyaura and a decarbonylative borylation reaction.

The research investigations presented herein are concerned with the syntheses and applications of arylboronic acids and their derivatives; with a particular focus on their accessibility or utility in certain of the most significant modern transition metal-catalysed reactions to involve organoborons. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the field of organoboron chemistry, from its roots employing borane and related highly reactive derivatives for uncatalysed hydroboration of olefins and acetylenes, to the modern classes of organoboron reagents of the greatest significance to the related contemporary transition metal-catalysed methodologies. Furthermore particular emphasis is placed on the discussion of arylboronic acids, their synthesis, and application to transition metal catalysis as a result of their propensity to undergo useful transmetallation events. Chapter 2 details the use of a commercially available sulfonated monophosphine ligand in the rhodium-catalysed 1,2-addition reaction employing aryl aldehydes and arylboronic acids in aqueous media. The high and continued activity of the catalytic complex is demonstrated by it being successfully recycled five consecutive times in the arylation reaction of an aryl aldehyde; as well as being active for the arylations of more sterically demanding aryl methyl ketone substrates. Chapter 3 details the design and synthesis of a novel bench-stable azidomethylene substituted arylboronate ester. The reactivity of this compound and a related analogue in both the coppercatalysed azide alkyne cycloaddition reaction and the Suzuki coupling reaction are detailed, culminating in the proof-of-concept use of such versatile synthetic building blocks in the synthesis of a drug-substance derivative. Chapter 4 details alternative synthetic approaches to that used in Chapter 3 in order to access bifunctional azidomethylene substituted arylboronate esters. In particular the application of Miyaura borylation of arylhalides bearing benzylic azides is addressed as a means to rapidly access substrates which are otherwise shown to be incompatible with classical s-block synthetic intermediates.

As key components of flexible organic electronics, the synthesis of polythiophenes via less toxic and more cost-effective routes is demanded. An efficient synthetic route for the production of thienyl-containing homopolymers and copolymers has been developed. The synthetic approach consists of: i) the synthesis in high yield and high purity of thienyl borane monomers protected with N-methyliminodiacetic acid (MIDA) via C-H electrophilic borylation. This reaction uses a combination of inexpensive reagents BCl3, AlCl3, and 2,6-dichloropyridine (Cl2Py) for the regioselective electrophilic aromatic substitution of thiophenes, followed by addition of a second aprotic amine pre-esterification to reduce the Brønsted acidity of the reaction mixture. In situ esterification provided the desired thienyl MIDA boronateester monomers in one-pot at room temperature. ii) Subsequent Suzuki-Miyaura polymerisation of the synthesised monomers to produce well defined thienyl containing pie-conjugated polymers in high molecular weight and high yields. Key reaction parameters for successful Suzuki-Miyaura polymerisation of thienyl-derived MIDA boronate esters under mild temperatures (i.e., 55 °C in THF) were found: a) an optimal monomer:H2O:base ratio, which enables controlled hydrolysis of the BMIDA moiety into its corresponding boronic acid at appropriate rates for high fidelity polymerisation. b) Nature of the base, where K3PO4 provided the best results for production of homopolymers (e.g., rr-P3HT), or KOH which gave excellent results for the formation of copolymers across a range of electronically different comonomers (e.g., pCPDT-BT). Thus, it is demonstrated that the approach is a general strategy for the highly efficient production of thienyl containing pie-conjugated regioregular, regiosymmetric and Donor-Acceptor polymers.

This dissertation examines the life and monastic career of Shaku Sōen (1860-1919) in Japan, Sri Lanka, and the United States from the mid-nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries. It draws on a rich documentary record in Japanese, literary Chinese (kanbun), and English to analyze the social, doctrinal, and ritual life of the Rinzai Zen monastic community. It traces the survival and revival of Rinzai Zen to adapt to Japan’s nation and empire building through the Meiji period (1868-1912), and the negotiation with Zen’s pre-Meiji scriptures and practice and Western studies of Buddhism until the Taishō period (1912-1926). Previous studies tend to approach the modernization of Zen from a Westernization perspective or that of Japanese nationalism and colonial expansion. To bring the two perspectives in conversation with each other and add new insights, this study reconstructs Sōen’s life and career in association with his dharma lineage and three major Zen monasteries—Myōshinji, Engakuji, and Kenchōji—and their capillary network of branch temples throughout Japan. It also traces Sōen’s three-year study in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and his major international travels to Thailand (Siam), China, Korea, the United States, among other places, that shaped his conception of Zen in the modern world. It sheds new light on the process of preparation that he and his colleagues had made to participate in the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. This historical and transnational study of Sōen shows that he and his peers strove to modernize in the Western paradigm and identify Zen with nationalistic interests of the state, while preserving and reviving pre-Meiji scriptures and practices. They presented Zen from a Japanese cultural perspective and make Zen compatible with Japanese nationalism and militarism. Their collaboration with Ceylonese Theravādins and Westerners interested in Buddhism and Japanese culture encouraged the spread of Japanese Mahāyāna Buddhism to the West while supporting Zen revival in Japan. Sōen and his students including D. T. Suzuki (1870-1966) introduced Zen teachings to the United States, setting the terms for Zen’s reception in the West through the twentieth century. It suggests that the modernization of Zen was not simply embracing the Western influences but was also a creative process for Zen monks to harness both the domestic and international resources to position themselves in the modern world.

Ce travail de thèse est consacré à la synthèse de nouveaux dérivés d'acides pulviniques et à l'évaluation de leurs propriétés antioxydante et radioprotectrice. Cette étude a été réalisée dans le but de développer de nouveaux agents de protection contre les rayonnements ionisants. Une nouvelle voie d'accès à des dérivés d'acides pulviniques a été mise au point en partant du L-tartrate de diméthyle. Elle est basée notamment sur une étape de cyclisation de Dieckmann, une déshydratation et un couplage de Suzuki-Miyaura. Elle permet une préparation efficace et concise de différents dérivés d'acides pulviniques : des dérivés tétroniques comportant un a-hydroxyester, des dérivés pulviniques monosubstitués et des pulvinates de méthyle. Une modification de cette méthode a été réalisée afin de préparer des pulvinones. Cette stratégie conduit en quatre étapes aux pulvinones souhaitées. La rapidité de cette méthode est apportée par un processus tandem, réalisé en dernière étape, mettant en jeu une cyclisation de Dieckmann et une b-élimination. Une synthèse d'acides 3-aryltétramiques a également été mise au point afin de préparer des dérivés azotés d'acides pulviniques. L'activité antioxydante des composés préparés a ensuite été évaluée à l'aide de différents tests : DPPH, ABTS, protection de la thymidine et de l'ADN et étude de la peroxydation lipidique. Ces évaluations ont permis de définir des relations structure-activité intéressantes des dérivés pulviniques. Elles ont montré que plusieurs dérivés possédaient de très bonnes actvités antioxydantes. Enfin, des tests de radioprotection sur des cellules TK6 et des souris ont pu être réalisés sur une sélection de composés.