The asymmetric Heck reaction using P,N-ligands has been studied by a combination of theoretical and experimental methods. The reaction follows Halpern-style selectivity; that is, the major isomer is produced from the least favored form of the pre-insertion intermediate. The initially formed Ph-Pd(P,N) species prefers a geometry with the phenyl trans to N. However, the alternative form, with Ph trans to P, is much less stable but much more reactive. In the preferred transition state, the phenyl moiety is trans to P, but significant electron density has been transferred to the alkene carbon trans to N. The steric interactions in this transition state fully account for the enantioselectivity observed with the ligands studied. The calculations also predict relative reactivity and nonlinear mixing effects for the investigated ligands; these predictions are fully validated by experimental testing. Finally, the low conversion observed with some catalysts was found to be caused by inactivation due to weak binding of the ligand to Pd(0). Adding monodentate PPh3 alleviated the precipitation problem without deteriorating the enantioselectivity and led to one of the most effective catalytic systems to date.

The rapid spread on multi-drug resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus requires not just novel treatment options, but the development of faster methods for the identification of new hits for drug development. The exponentially increasing speed of computational methods makes a more extensive use in the early stages of drug discovery attractive if sufficient accuracy can be achieved. Computational target identification using systems-level methods suggested the histidine biosynthesis pathway as an attractive target against S. aureus. Potential inhibitors for the pathway were identified through docking, followed by ensemble rescoring that is sufficiently accurate to justify immediate testing of the identified compounds by whole cell assays, avoiding the need for time-consuming and often difficult intermediary enzyme assays. This novel strategy is demonstrated for three key enzymes of the S. aureus histidine biosynthesis pathway, which is predicted to be essential for bacterial biomass productions. Virtual screening of a library of ~10 6 compounds identified 49 potential inhibitors of three enzymes of this pathway. 18 representative compounds were directly tested on three S. aureus-and two E. coli strains in standard disc inhibition assays. 13 compounds are inhibitors of some or all of the S. aureus strains, while 14 compounds weakly inhibit growth in one or both E. coli strains. The high hit rate obtained from a fast virtual screen demonstrates the applicability of this novel strategy to the histidine biosynthesis pathway.

The Heck reaction of aryl iodides and bromides with allyl ethers has been investigated. Using phosphine-free Pd(OAc)2 in DMF at 90 °C in the presence of Bu4NOAc, the reaction gave cinnamyl derivatives, usually in good to high yields, with a wide range of aryl halides. The reaction tolerates a variety of functional groups, including ether, amide, alcohol, aldehyde, ketone, ester, cyano, carboxylic acid, and nitro groups. Ortho-substituted arylating agents afforded moderate yields in some cases, though good to high yields were obtained with o-iodotoluene, iodovanillin, and 1-iodonaphthalene. Several pieces of experimental evidence suggest that the observed selectivity in formation of the vinylic substitution products is kinetic in origin under these conditions. A DFT investigation has been performed to clarify the source of product selectivity and, in particular, the preference for cinnamyl ether over enol ether products. Interestingly, it was found that the product selectivity does not arise from competing β-hydride eliminations but rather from a competition between β-elimination and hindered single-bond rotation in the initial carbopalladation product.

The Heck arylation of acrolein acetal has been studied computationally and compared to the corresponding reaction with allyl ethers. The reaction can be controlled to give either cinnamaldehydes or arylpropanoic esters by addition of different coordinating anions, acetate, or chloride. The computational study reveals that coordinating acetate raises the energy of an intermediate sufficiently to block the access to an otherwise favorable β-hydride elimination. The reaction path is also compared to that of allyl ethers, which always give significant amounts of cinnamyl ether products under all reaction conditions. The difference between the two substrate classes could be rationalized in terms of relative hydride donating power of the two substrates.