We report a general preparation of arylated bicyclo[1.1.1]pentanes through the opening of [1.1.1]propellane with various arylmagnesium halides. After transmetalation with ZnCl and Negishi cross-coupling with aryl and heteroaryl halides, bis-arylated bicyclo[1.1.1]pentanes are obtained. These bis-arylated bicyclo[1.1.1]pentanes may be considered as bioisosteres of internal alkynes. Bioisosteres of tazarotene and the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) antagonist 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)pyridine were prepared and their physicochemical properties were evaluated.

A protocol for the efficient and selective reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide has been developed. Remarkably, this oxygen abstraction step can be performed with only the presence of catalytic cesium fluoride and a stoichiometric amount of a disilane in DMSO at room temperature. Rapid reduction of CO2 to CO could be achieved in only 2 h, which was observed by pressure measurements. To quantify the amount of CO produced, the reduction was coupled to an aminocarbonylation reaction using the two-chamber system, COware. The reduction was not limited to a specific disilane, since (Ph2MeSi)2 as well as (PhMe2Si)2 and (Me3Si)3SiH exhibited similar reactivity. Moreover, at a slightly elevated temperature, other fluoride salts were able to efficiently catalyze the CO2 to CO reduction. Employing a nonhygroscopic fluoride source, KHF2, omitted the need for an inert atmosphere. Substituting the disilane with silylborane, (pinacolato)BSiMe2Ph, maintained the high activity of the system, whereas the structurally related bis(pinacolato)diboron could not be activated with this fluoride methodology. Furthermore, this chemistry could be adapted to (13)C-isotope labeling of six pharmaceutically relevant compounds starting from Ba(13)CO3 in a newly developed three-chamber system.

Primary alcohols have been reacted with hydroxide and the ruthenium complex [RuCl(IiPr)(p-cymene)] to afford carboxylic acids and dihydrogen. The dehydrogenative reaction is performed in toluene, which allows for a simple isolation of the products by precipitation and extraction. The transformation can be applied to a range of benzylic and saturated aliphatic alcohols containing halide and (thio)ether substituents, while olefins and ester groups are not compatible with the reaction conditions. Benzylic alcohols undergo faster conversion than other substrates, and a competing Cannizzaro reaction is most likely involved in this case. The kinetic isotope effect was determined to be 0.67 using 1-butanol as the substrate. A plausible catalytic cycle was characterized by DFT/B3LYP-D3 and involved coordination of the alcohol to the metal, β-hydride elimination, hydroxide attack on the coordinated aldehyde, and a second β-hydride elimination to furnish the carboxylate.

The mechanism of the ruthenium-N-heterocyclic-carbene-catalyzed formation of amides from alcohols and amines was investigated by experimental techniques (Hammett studies, kinetic isotope effects) and by a computational study with dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT/M06). The Hammett study indicated that a small positive charge builds-up at the benzylic position in the transition state of the turnover-limiting step. The kinetic isotope effect was determined to be 2.29(±0.15), which suggests that the breakage of the C-H bond is not the rate-limiting step, but that it is one of several slow steps in the catalytic cycle. Rapid scrambling of hydrogen and deuterium at the α position of the alcohol was observed with deuterium-labeled substrates, which implies that the catalytically active species is a ruthenium dihydride. The experimental results were supported by the characterization of a plausible catalytic cycle by using DFT/M06. Both cis-dihydride and trans-dihydride intermediates were considered, but when the theoretical turnover frequencies (TOFs) were derived directly from the calculated DFT/M06 energies, we found that only the trans-dihydride pathway was in agreement with the experimentally determined TOFs.

A set of successive regioselective metalations and functionalizations of the 1,5-naphthyridine scaffold are described. A combination of Zn-, Mg-, and Li-TMP (TMP=2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidyl) bases and the presence or absence of a Lewis acid (BF ⋅OEt ) allows the introduction of up to three substituents to the 1,5-naphthyridine core. Also, a novel "halogen dance" reaction was discovered upon metalation of an 8-iodo-2,4-trifunctionalized 1,5-naphthyridine allowing a fourth regioselective functionalization. Additionally, reactions leading to key 1,5-naphthyridines for the preparation of OLED materials and a potential antibacterial agent were performed.