A high yield synthesis of 1,2-dihydropyrimidines by the Rh(II)-catalyzed reaction of diazocarbonyl compounds with 1,4-di- and 1,4,5-trisubstituted pyrazoles is reported. This reaction represents the first example of a carbenoid insertion into a N-N bond and provides a novel approach to 4-unsubstituted 1,2-dihydropyrimidines with a broad range of functional group tolerance. According to DFT calculations, the pyrazole ring expansion proceeds via the sequential formation of the metal-bound pyrazolium ylide, metal-free pyrazolium ylide, and 1,5-diazahexatriene followed by 1,6-cyclization.

The fabrication of solution deposited OLEDs is fraught with difficulties, largely due to the interlayer mixing and surface erosion during sequential deposition of the layers. We demonstrate that these problems...

An efficient two-step procedure "imine formation/azirine-carbenoid coupling" has been developed for the preparation of 1,2-dihydropyrimidines from azirine-2-carbaldehydes, primary amines, and diazo carbonyl compounds under Rh(II) catalysis. The formation of 1,2-dihydropyrimidines involves 100% regioselective addition of the rhodium carbenoid to endocyclic nitrogen atom of the 2H-azirine-2-carbaldimine. According to the DFT calculations the reaction proceeds via dissociation of the metal-bound complex of the azirinium ylide to metal-free azirinium ylide, ring-opening of the latter to give a 1,5-diazahexa-1,3,5-triene, followed by 1,6-cyclization. The 1,2-dihydropyrimidines with two different electron-withdrawing substituents at the C position can undergo in solution inversion of configuration of the stereogenic center at C via "the N-C bond cleavage/rotation around the N-C single bond/1,6-cyclization" sequence.

We describe a new type of nitrenium-based Lewis acids: tetraaryl-1,2,3-triazolium salts. These were fully characterized by NMR and X-ray crystallography. The Gutmann–Beckett acidity numbers were determined to be up to 35.6, which is high compared to those of previously studied nitrenium salts. These salts catalyze the facile hydrosilylation-deoxygenation of ketones, aldehydes, acetals, alcohols, ethers, and silyl ethers under mild conditions in excellent yields. To our knowledge, this represents a first example of triazolium ions used as Lewis acid catalysts.