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Douglas M Ho

Publications and source records attributed to Douglas M Ho.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Synthesis, structure, and resolution of exceptionally twisted pentacenes.

9,10,11,20,21,22-hexaphenyltetrabenzo[a,c,l,n]pentacene (2) and a dimethyl derivative (2m) were prepared by the reaction of 1,3-diphenylphenanthro[9,10-c]furan with bisaryne equivalents generated from 1,2,4,5-tetrabromo-3,6-diarylbenzenes in the presence of n-butyllithium, followed by deoxygenation of the double adducts with low-valent titanium. Both are bright red solids with a strong orange fluorescence in solution. The X-ray structures of these compounds show them to be the most highly twisted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons known. Compound 2 has an end-to-end twist of 144 degrees , and the two crystallographically independent molecules of 2m have twists of 138 degrees and 143 degrees. Both molecules were resolved by chromatography on chiral supports, and the pure enantiomers have extremely high specific rotations (for 2, [alpha]D = 7400 degrees; for 2m, 5600 degrees), but the molecules racemize slowly at room temperature (DeltaG++rac = 24 kcal/mol). Both the experimental geometry and the observed racemization barrier for 2 are in good agreement with computational studies of the molecule at a variety of levels. Attempts to prepare compound 2 by reaction of tetraphenylbenzyne with 9,10,12,13-tetraphenyl-11-oxacyclopenta[b]triphenylene (3, a twisted isobenzofuran) gave no adducts, and attempts to prepare tetradecaphenylpentacene by reaction of hexaphenylisobenzofuran (11) with bisaryne equivalents gave only monoadducts.

Anthracenes↗
PubMed2005

Polyphenyl macrocyclic oligophenylenes.

The Diels-Alder reaction of tribenzohexadehydro[12]annulene (12) and 3,4-diphenyl-2,5-dimethylcyclopentadienone (13) at 300 degrees C gave the triple adduct 2,3,10,11,18,19-hexaphenyl-1,4,9,12,17,20-hexamethylhexa-o-phenylene (6b) in 13% yield. NMR and X-ray analysis indicated that 6b adopts a screw conformation (C2) rather than a crown conformation (C3), and computational studies seem to rule out any interconversion of the two. Palladium-catalyzed coupling of 1,2-bis(4-bromophenyl)-3,4,5,6-tetraphenylbenzene (17) and the corresponding bis(boronic acid) 18 gave a mixture of linear and cyclic oligomers of hexaphenylbenzene containing two to six hexaphenylbenzene subunits. A macrocyclic tetramer was isolated from this mixture in 5% yield, and X-ray analysis showed it to be the "supertetraphenylene" 7 (C168H112) that contains a large central cavity and packs to form highly solvated, porous crystals. The difficulties encountered in the purification of 7 led to the development of alternative, more highly selective syntheses that give the pure macrocycle more easily but in essentially the same overall yield.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Ruthenium-catalyzed hydrative cyclization of 1,5-enynes.

A ruthenium-catalyzed hydrative cyclization of enynes has been developed. The reaction converts a range of 1,5-enynes bearing terminal alkyne and Michael acceptor moieties into cyclopentanone derivatives. From extensive catalyst screening experiments, a trinuclear ruthenium complex, [Ru3(dppm)3Cl5]PF6, has been identified to be an effective catalyst in mediating the 1,1-difunctionalization of alkynes. It is proposed that this novel umpolung reaction proceeds through the formation of a ruthenium vinylidene, anti-Markovnikov hydration, and intramolecular Michael addition of an acyl ruthenium to the alkene.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Sterically congested in-methylcyclophanes.

The crowded in-methylcyclophane 9 was prepared by condensation of 1,8,13-tris(bromomethyl)-9-methyltriptycene and 1,3,5-tris(mercaptomethyl)benzene under high dilution conditions. Oxidation of 9 gave the highly crystalline trisulfone 10, and its X-ray structure was determined. The in-methyl carbon atoms of the two independent molecules in the structure are only 2.90 and 2.87 A from the centroid of the basal aromatic ring, the closest such contacts ever observed. In addition, the C-CH3 bonds in these cyclophanes are compressed; the two independent bond distances are 1.475 and 1.495 A, significantly shorter than the ca. 1.54 A distances found in similar but uncongested molecules.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Design, synthesis, and reactivity of 1-hydrazinodienes for use in organic synthesis.

A new 1-hydrazinodiene (1) has been developed and utilized in Lewis acid catalyzed, intermolecular Diels-Alder reactions with various electron-deficient alkenes. The hydrazine can then be deprotected, and a molecule of methanesulfinic acid is eliminated to provide a putative diazene intermediate (4), which then spontaneously undergoes a suprafacial 1,5-sigmatropic shift to yield stereochemically complex cyclohexenes. This method has been applied to the synthesis of a constitutionally and stereochemically complex decalin derivative.

Alkenes↗
PubMed2005

Accelerated arene ligand exchange in the (Arene)Cr(CO)2L series.

Arene ligand exchange in the (eta(6)-arene)Cr(CO)(2)L series can be accelerated if the ligand L is an electronically unsymmetrical bidentate ligand. The system evaluated here employs derivatives of tris(pyrrolyl)phosphine as L. A series of 2-L'-substituted pyrroles was prepared, where the substituents include: L' = -SMe, -CH(2)SMe, -SPh, -CH(2)SPh, -SCF(3), -S-tBu, -CO(2)Me, -CONMe(2), -2-pyridinyl, and -PPh(2). Reaction with ClP(pyrrolyl)(2) gave a new series of phosphines, (2-L'-pyrrolyl)(pyrrolyl)(2)P. Each of these phosphines was converted to (arene)Cr(CO)(2)[P(2-L'-pyrrolyl)(pyrrolyl)(2)P) complexes. The substituents L'are proposed to provide temporary coordination to the Cr and to lower the barrier to arene exchange. The series was evaluated where the arene in the complex (departing) is benzene, fluorobenzene, toluene, o-xylene, m-xylene, or p-xylene and the incoming arene is C(6)D(6), chlorobenzene-d(5), anisole-d(8), fluorobenzene-d(5), toluene-d(8), o-xylene-d(10), m-xylene-d(10), p-xylene-d(10), or mesitylene-d(12). Most of the new complexes showed a significant increase in the rate of arene exchange due to the side chain unit L'. The strongest effects were seen with the examples where X = -CO(2)Me, -CONMe(2), and -(2-pyridinyl), allowing exchange with a half lifetime as low as 8 h/22 degrees C.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Synthesis and biological evaluation of benzodioxanylpiperazine derivatives as potent serotonin 5-HT(1A) antagonists: the discovery of Lecozotan.

A series of benzodioxanylpiperazine derivatives possessing a 4-aryl amide substituent was prepared and evaluated for 5-HT(1A) affinity and functional antagonist activity in vitro and in vivo. All of the compounds in this series possessed high affinity for the human 5-HT(1A) receptor and many displayed potent antagonist activity in vitro and varying degrees of intrinsic activity in vivo. Compound 11c (Lecozotan) was selected for further development and is currently in clinical trials.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Synthesis and characterization of highly conjugated, chiral bridging ligands.

This paper describes the synthesis of four chiral derivatives of the electronically highly conjugated tetra-2-pyridylpyrazine (TPPZ) bridging ligand, which are denoted (R)- and (S)-4,5- and 5,6-pineno-tetra-2-pyridylpyrazine (PTPPZ). Preparation of these ligands was undertaken through the use of commercially available, enantiomerically pure (1R)- and (1S)-alpha-pinene, which was functionalized and subsequently employed in a Krohnke pyridine synthesis involving a furan-substituted pyridinium salt to yield a chiral, furan-substituted pyridyl intermediate. Oxidative degradation and subsequent reduction of this furan led to a chiral, substituted 2-pyridylaldehyde, which underwent a pyridoin condensation followed by cyclization to produce the final PTPPZ ligands.

Cyclization↗
PubMed2004

A pentacene with a 144 degrees twist.

9,10,11,20,21,22-Hexaphenyltetrabenzo[a,c,l,n]pentacene (1) was prepared by the reaction of 1,3-diphenylphenanthro[9,10-c]furan with the bisaryne equivalent generated from 1,2,4,5-tetrabromo-3,6-diphenylbenzene in the presence of n-butyllithium, followed by deoxygenation of the double adduct with low-valent titanium. The X-ray structure of 1 shows it to be the most highly twisted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon known, with an end-to-end twist of 143.6 degrees . Compound 1 was resolved by chromatography on a chiral support, and the pure enantiomers have specific rotations in excess of 7000 degrees , but the molecule racemizes slowly at 25 degrees C (t1/2 = 9.3 h, DeltaGrac = 23.8 kcal/mol).

Bromobenzenes↗
PubMed2004

Synthesis of polyphenylene dendrimers related to "cubic graphite".

Four large, 6-fold symmetric, polyphenylene hydrocarbons have been prepared by short syntheses that chiefly employed alkyne trimerization, palladium-catalyzed coupling, and Diels-Alder reactions. The two largest of these molecules, hexakis[4'-(pentaphenylphenyl)biphenyl-4-yl]benzene (4, C(294)H(198)) and hexakis[4'-(2,3,4,5-tetraphenylphenyl)biphenyl-4-yl]benzene (5, C(258)H(174)) are substructures of "phenylogous cubic graphite", and the other two, hexakis(2',3',4',5',6'-pentaphenylbiphenyl-4-yl)benzene (26, C(258)H(174)) and hexakis(2',3',4',5'-tetraphenylbiphenyl-4-yl)benzene (25, C(222)H(150)) are strongly pitched, six-bladed molecular propellers. The X-ray crystal structure of compound 26 has also been determined; dendrimer 26 is at present the largest crystallographically characterized hydrocarbon.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Two new polymorphs of trans-bis(hinokitiolato)copper(II).

The title complex [systematic name: trans-bis(3-isopropyl-7-oxocyclohepta-1,3,5-trienolato)copper(II)], [Cu(C10H11O2)2], is a substance possessing antimicrobial activity. The compound crystallizes in a number of polymorphic forms, the structures for two of which are reported here. Stacks of square-planar molecules exhibiting weak intermolecular copper-olefin pi interactions (not observed in earlier reports on this substance) are described. The molecules have crystallographically imposed inversion symmetry, with stacking and copper-olefin pi distances ranging from 3.226 (2) to 3.336 (1) A.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Conformational control in activation of an enediyne.

In the bicyclo[7.3.1]tridec-4-ene-2,6-diyne framework characteristic of calicheamicin, DFT calculations predict that the chair conformer should be much more reactive toward cycloaromatization compared to the boat form. A functionalized derivative of this framework with an added two-atom bridge to enforce the boat conformation was synthesized and shown to be stable at 23 degrees C. Cleavage of the bridge releases the conformational lock and cycloaromatization proceeds with t1/2 42.5 min/23 degrees C, presumably through the chair conformation. This confirms the prediction based on computation and points to a new principle for triggering the enediyne toxins.

Alkynes↗
PubMed2003

Synthesis and structure of a polyphenylene macrocycle related to "cubic graphite".

[structure: see text] Palladium-catalyzed coupling of 1,2-bis(4-bromophenyl)-3,4,5,6-tetraphenylbenzene and the corresponding hexaphenylbenzene bis(boronic acid) gave a mixture of linear and cyclic oligomers of hexaphenylbenzene. An X-ray crystal structure of the tetrameric oligomer showed it to be the polyphenylene macrocycle 4 (C(168)H(112)). The roughly D(2) symmetric macrocycle contains a large central cavity, and it is one of the channel substructures of "phenylogous cubic graphite".

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Octaphenylbiphenylene and dodecaphenyltriptycene.

Octaphenylbiphenylene, the expected dimer of tetraphenylbenzyne, has been prepared in low yield by diazotization of 3,4,5,6-tetraphenylanthranilic acid, and its X-ray structure has been determined. The X-ray structure of a second, abnormal dimer of tetraphenylbenzyne, 1,2,3,8,9,10-hexaphenyldibenzo[fg,op]naphthacene has also been determined; this is a saddle-shaped polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,13,14,15,16-Dodecaphenyltriptycene, perhaps the most crowded triptycene derivative yet prepared, has been made by the reaction of tetraphenylbenzyne with 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8-octaphenylanthracene, which in turn was synthesized in two steps from commercial starting materials. The X-ray structure of the dodecaphenyltriptycene nonabenzene solvate is a remarkable channel containing structure in which more than 50% of the unit cell volume is occupied by the benzene molecules.

Journal Article↗