The inverse demand hetero Diels-Alder reaction has been shown to be catalysed by commercially available, air-sensitive lanthanide Lewis acid catalysts such as Yb(fod)₃ . To date there have been no reported examples of enantioselective Lewis acid catalysed reactions of ethyl vinyl ether with crotonaldehyde, the inverse demand hetero Diels-Alder reaction of interest. This Diels-Alder reaction yields dihydropyran products which are key in the synthesis of a number of natural product target molecules, such as carbohydrates. The lack of stereospecificity achieved with known chiral NMR shift reagents has been attributed to fluxional behaviour of the ligands on the large lanthanide metal centre. This lack of conformational rigidity was proposed to be controlled by the use of sterically demanding C₃ symmetric multidentate ligand systems. By carefully designing a suitable ligand system the binding of the crotonaldehyde moiety in the Lewis acid catalysed reaction was anticipated to occur with facial selectivity, resulting in enantioselective Diels-Alder products. It was determined that lanthanide complexes of fluorinated β-diketone ligands with sufficiently low pKa's effectively catalyse the desired inverse demand hetero Diels-Alder reaction. These functionalities were incorporated into a multidentate, achiral, C₃ symmetric ligand system which upon lanthanide complexation was shown to be an air-stable efficient Lewis acid catalyst. Two chiral C₃ symmetric ligand systems were also prepared but were shown to be unsuitable for lanthanide substitution due to insufficiently robust functionalities present in the ligand framework, such as sulfonyl esters and Molecular modelling studies of these ligand systems reveal that the incorporation of camphor into the ligand framework is ideal for the preparation of a facially selective aldehyde binding site. Thus, concluding work probed other possible ligand functionalities which would result in camphor containing, chiral, C₃ symmetric ligand systems that are stable as lanthanide Lewis acid complexes. This new class of ligand promises to be of interest as chiral C₃ symmetric ligand systems for substitution on lanthanide metal centres have yet to be reported. This work summarises several useful synthetic strategies for the preparation of chiral C₃ symmetric ligands in multigram quantities. The application of these higher order symmetry ligands in enantioselective catalysis remains an important area of research. / Graduate

M.Sc. (Chemistry) / The work in this thesis describes some catalytic reactions of aluminium triflate. This Lewis acid has been shown to be of great value in the catalysis of several types of organic transformations. These include but are not limited to the alcoholysis and aminolysis of epoxides, uses in methoxycarbonylation catalysis and in esterification reactions. Therefore, aluminium triflate holds promise for application in both the bulk and fine chemistry industries. Aluminium triflate has received little interest compared to some other, more costly triflates such the lanthanide triflates. Oxetanes were used in various catalysis experiments during this study, yet few are commercially available. Therefore, various synthetic approaches to the synthesis of 2-phenyl-oxetane were explored. There were many failed attempts, but the preparation was eventually successful using a sulfur ylide route with good yield. The next part of this thesis explores the boundaries of ring-opening reactions of oxetanes. Lewis acid ring-opening of oxetanes has been neglected compared to that of epoxides, likely because it is a more difficult undertaking. Yet, alcoholysis reactions showed good yields with a variety of different alcohol substrates. Some of the alcohols contained functionality which could provide access to further modification. Furthermore, the aminolysis and thiolysis of oxetanes were explored, essentially without success. However, with an activated oxetane it was shown that oxetanes could be opened with good yield under mild conditions with amines and thiols...

published_or_final_version / abstract / Chemistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Duquesne University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

The interactions between ligands and transition metals have been an essential subject in inorganic chemistry. Other than the commonly known L-type (two-electron donors) and X-type ligands (one-electron donors), Z-type ligands (two-electron acceptors) have begun to surface in the past decade. Capable of drawing a pair of d-electrons away from a metal, Z-ligands affect the electronic structures of transition metals leading to fascinating properties as well as reactivity. In particular, recent advance in Z-ligand chemistry have resulted in the discovery of transition metal borane complexes featuring metal → boron interactions. Owing to the presence of a metal → boron interaction which stabilizes the low valent state, these complexes have been shown to activate small molecules such as H2, CO2, and CHCl3. Further, the concept of Z-ligand has been extended to s- and d-block Lewis acids. In spite of these achievements, Z-ligands that contain Group 14-16 elements as Lewis acids remain scarce and relatively unexplored. For this reason, we have launched a series of investigations targeting complexes with transition metal → Group 14-16 interactions. These investigations have allowed us to synthesize a series of novel complexes with palladium, platinum, or gold as metallobasic late transition metals and tin, antimony, bismuth, and tellurium as Lewis acids. The transition metal → Lewis acid interactions of these complexes, which are supported by o-phosphinophenylene, 1,8-naphthalenediyl or 8-quinolinyl buttresses, have been established experimentally and theoretically. Further, the reactivity of these complexes toward anions and oxidants has also been explored. These experiments have led to the discovery of tellurium-platinum complexes that sustain reversible two-electron redox processes including the photo-reductive elimination of chlorine. Other noteworthy outcomes of this research include the isolation of the first telluroxanyl-metal complex as well as the discovery of complexes with HgII → SbV interactions.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Duquesne University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p. 212-246) and index.

Ph.D. / The work described in this thesis was directed at advancing the applications of Al(OTf)3, a metal triflate, in organic synthesis. Lewis acids play an important role in catalysis and catalyse reactions with high selectivities, unique reactivities under mild conditions. Metal triflates have become the Lewis acids of choice for acid catalysed organic transformations. A detailed literature study of metal triflates provided numerous examples of their use in organic transformations. Al(OTf)3 has been widely neglected as a Lewis acid which is contrasting to the attention the other metal triflates have received. Previous work in our laboratories had established Al(OTf)3 as an effective Lewis acid catalyst for the ring-opening of epoxides with simple alcohols and amines. The alcoholysis of epoxides provides a ready access to β-alkoxy alcohols. Whilst this reaction has been shown to occur with Al(OTf)3 as a catalyst, the established protocol calls for the use of the nucleophilic alcohol in an excess amount. Whilst this proves no problem when simple alcohols are employed as nucleophiles in the ring-opening reaction, it is a problem when more complex and expensive alcoholic nucleophiles are utilised. A modified procedure utilising Al(OTf)3 as a catalyst was developed which tolerates the use of only 1 equivalent of the nucleophilic alcohol for the ring opening reaction. The desymmetrisation of a meso-epoxide with chiral alcoholic nucleophiles was also investigated and the outcome of the diastereoselectivity of the reaction reported. The aminolysis of epoxides has been established utilising Al(OTf)3 as the Lewis acid catalyst. However, this has only been demonstrated for the ring opening of simple epoxides with simple amines. Piperazine derived β-amino alcohols with known biological activity were chosen as substrates with which to test the Al(OTf)3 catalysed aminolysis of epoxides in the synthesis of more complex β-amino alcohols. The various starting epoxides and amine nucleophiles were synthesised. During which a new approach towards the synthesis of - glycidyl amines was developed utilising a two step approach with the first step being catalysed by Al(OTf)3. It was also found that the optimal method for forming the β-amino alcohol bond was one in which the glycidyl motif was placed on the less basic heteroatom and ring opened by the more nucleophilic piperazine amine.

Ph.D. (Chemistry) / The bridged chiral benzopyrans were strategically ring opened via acetolysis to yield either galactose based chromenes or chromans, depending on the reaction conditions. A proposal relating to the mechanism of this selective ring opening acetolysis is discussed. The benzopyrans (chromenes, chromans and bridged chiral benzopyrans) were de-acetylated via triethyl amine catalysed transesterification. Interestingly, the chromenes did not yield the anticipated hydrolysis product (triol) but a new class of bridged chiral benzopyrans which were a result of intramolecular oxa-Michael addition. A chromene that formed during the selective ring opening of the bridged chiral benzopyrans was employed to develop a method for the synthesis of a carbohydrate derived oxepane. The oxepane synthesis was achieved, albeit in the face of numerous challenges from side reactions. The difficulties encountered in the synthesis are discussed...

Ph.D. / The research described in this thesis was directed at advancing the application of metal triflates, Al(OTf)3 in particular, in organic synthesis, on the one hand and to contribute to the understanding of the underlying basis for their catalytic activity. The study was undertaken against the background and on the bases of a detailed literature study of metal triflates, their chemical and catalytic properties and applications thereof. Amongst others, it deals with the possible role of metal-bound water that give rise to Brønsted type acidity and that this induced Brønsted acidity may be responsible for the catalytic activity that is observed. The study was prompted by the realisation that Al(OTf)3 was largely neglected as a potential reusable catalyst. This is in marked contrast to the attention paid to other metal triflates, the rare earth metals in particular. Earlier work in this laboratory has shown that Al(OTf)3 is stable in water from which it can be recovered easily for reuse. In addition it showed promise as a Lewis acid catalyst and is relatively soluble in several organic solvents. New applications for the use of Al(OTf)3 have now been demonstrated. These include the efficient formation of acetals from aldehydes and ketones. The conversions can be carried out in an alcohol/orthoester mixture or preferably in neat orthoester. Other metal triflates, notably Sc(OTf)3 and In(OTf)3, are useful alternative catalysts. Al(OTf)3 can be easily recycled without loss of activity. This methodology also can be applied to aldehydes and ketones containing TBDMS groups without effecting deprotection of the ethers. In view of the sensitivity of the TBDMS groups to hydrolysis in the presence of triflic acid the results suggest little hydrolysis (or alcoholysis) of the metal triflates in the protic solvents used, which would generate trifluoromethanesulfonic acid as a consequence of such metal based hydrolysis. Al(OTf)3 was also found to be a good catalyst for the formation of THP ethers. It proved to be excellent for Friedel Crafts reactions using alkynes as substrates. Al(OTf)3 together with other triflates offers a mild alternative to the more traditional water sensitive Lewis acids, e.g. BF3, AlCl3 and TiCl4, which are difficult to recover and require the use of extremely dry solvents.