On the reaction of carboxylic acids and isonitriles with conventional heating

Cascade Reaction of Isocyanides with Carboxylic Acid and CD3SSO3Na: Toward S-CD3 Thiocarbamates

We developed an unprecedented cascade reaction involving isocyanides with carboxylic acids and CD3SSO3Na to access S-CD3 thiocarbamates with the formation of two C-N bonds and one C-S bond. Preliminary mechanistic investigations disclose that these three-component reactions precede the esterification of carboxylic acids with isocyanides, generating a capable N-alkyl-N-formyl amide followed by thiolation with CD3SSO3Na to provide the corresponding products. The transformation has outstanding features in mild reaction conditions, effortless experimental operation, structural modification of polyfunctional carboxylic acid drugs, and large-scale preparation.

Isocyanides as Catalytic Electron Acceptors in the Visible Light Promoted Oxidative Formation of Benzyl and Acyl Radicals

The recent disclosure of the ability of aromatic isocyanides to harvest visible light and act as single electron acceptors when reacting with tertiary aromatic amines has triggered a renewed interest in their application to the development of green photoredox catalytic methodologies. Accordingly, the present work explores their ability to promote the generation of both alkyl and acyl radicals starting from radical precursors such as Hantzsch esters, potassium alkyltrifluoroborates, and α-oxoacids. Mechanistic studies involving UV-visible absorption and fluorescence experiments, electrochemical measurements of the ground-state redox potentials along with computational calculations of both the ground- and the excited-state redox potentials of a set of nine different aromatic isocyanides provide key insights to promote a rationale design of a new generation of isocyanide-based organic photoredox catalysts. Importantly, the green potential of the investigated chemistry is demonstrated by a direct and easy access to deuterium labeled compounds.

Palladium-Catalyzed Multicomponent Reaction of Alkynes, Carboxylic Acids, and Isocyanides: A Direct Approach to Captodative Olefins

A palladium-catalyzed multicomponent reaction of alkynes, carboxylic acids, and isocyanides has been developed with the assistance of silver salt under mild conditions. Highly functionalized captodative olefins are synthesized efficiently by this method, which can find many applications as versatile synthons in organic synthesis.

Palladium-catalysed hydroamidocarbonylation of 1,3-dienes

Herein, we report our recent result on the development of the selective catalytic method towards the synthesis of β,γ-unsaturated imides via Pd-catalysed hydroamidocarbonylation of conjugated dienes. Note that this reaction proceeds under acid additive free conditions. Various dienes, including those of high industrial value (e.g. isoprene, 1,3-butadiene), are shown to be compatible with our established method (28 examples, 40-99% yield), which leads to the corresponding β,γ-unsaturated imides in a highly efficient and atom-economic fashion.

Multicomponent Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of a Piperazine-Based Dopamine Receptor Ligand Library

A series of 1,4-disubstituted piperazine-based compounds were designed, synthesized, and evaluated as dopamine D2/D3 receptor ligands. The synthesis relies on the key multicomponent split-Ugi reaction, assessing its great potential in generating chemical diversity around the piperazine core. With the aim of evaluating the effect of such diversity on the dopamine receptor affinity, a small library of compounds was prepared, applying post-Ugi transformations. Ligand stimulated binding assays indicated that some compounds show a significant affinity, with K i values up to 53 nM for the D2 receptor. Molecular docking studies with the D2 and D3 receptor homology models were also performed on selected compounds. They highlighted key interactions at the indole head and at the piperazine moiety, which resulted in good agreement with the known pharmacophore models, thus helping to explain the observed structure-activity relationship data. Molecular insights from this study could enable a rational improvement of the split-Ugi primary scaffold, toward more selective ligands.