| Fe Catalysis – Fact or Fiction? |
| Iron catalysis has been a growing area of interest in recent years helped by the low cost and toxicity of most iron catalysts particularly when compared to Pd, Ru, Rh etc. However a recent paper1 from Carsten Bolm and Steven Buchwald casts doubt on iron’s perceived role in some FeCl3 catalysed aryl coupling reactions between aryl iodides and phenols, thiophenols and imidazoles. 
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| Birch Reduction with Na, K on Silica Gel |
| Alkali metals in silica gel (M-SG) have been developed at Michigan State University as dry, free flowing powders which can replace dissolving metal conditions, typically requiring liquid ammonia, for carrying out reductions and other transformations.
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| Aromatic Fluorination |
| ArOSO2CF3 + CsF → ArF A recent Science paper (published on the web) from Stephen Buchwald and his group describes a system for generating aromatic fluorides by palladium catalysed displacement of triflates using cesium fluoride.
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| Efficient Synthesis of Oseltamivir Phosphate, the Active Ingredient of Tamiflu |
| This recent report (Angew Chem Int Ed 2009, 48, 5760-5762) from Roche process R&D describes a new and scalable synthesis starting from shikimic acid.
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| Alkaline Earth Metals in Synthesis |
| When was the last time you used a calcium, magnesium, strontium or barium catalyst in organic synthesis? I suspect many have never used one at all. Well a recent article (Angew Chem Int Ed, 2009, 48, 5790) by Uli Kazmaier reviews recent work in the area.
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| Books |
| Two New Books on Crystallisation and Polymorphism ... |
| Topical Tips |
| Alternatives to Acetonitrile as a Solvent for HPLC Analysis |
| Fluoride Free Cleavage of Triisopropylsilyl (TIPS) Protecting Groups |
| ... and finally ... |
| ... The Merck study on hplc solvents included in this newsletter suggests ethanol as a good alternative. We'll certainly drink to that. |
