| Asymmetric Phase Transfer Catalysis |
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Dr Trevor Laird
Asymmetric PTCs can be made by alkylation of commercially available alkaloids such as quinine and cinchonidine. However, commercially available cinchonidine often contains up to 10% of dihydrocinchonidine, which will also alkylate to give a mixture of cinchonidinium and dihydrocinchonidinium salts which are hard to separate.
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| Replacement of Cl by CF3 in Aromatics and Heteroaromatics |
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Dr Trevor Laird
The palladium –catalysed trifluoromethylation of aryl chlorides has recently been published (E J Cho et al, Science, 2010, 328, 1679-1681) by the group of Buchwald at MIT. Wheaeas there have been previous publications on replacement of aryl iodides with trifluoromethyl, this is the first general method.
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| Frustrated Lewis Pairs |
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Dr John Knight
A couple of years' ago I noted a paper by G Erker et al (JCS Chem Commun, 2008, 45) with the term 'frustrated Lewis pair' in the title and intrigued by this I read further as it described the use of these materials to activate hydrogen, promising the option of catalytic reductions without the use of transition metals catalysis.
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| Radicals in Cascade Chemistry |
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Dr John Knight
Many chemists will recollect or have seen acid-induced reaction of polyenes to construct steroidal skeletons in a manner analogous to their biosynthetic origins. Also, many chemists may remember a resurgence of radical chemistry in the late 1980's, much of it using tributyltin hydride to generate the radical by reduction of a halide.
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| Removal of Copper Residues |
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Dr Will Watson
The commercial route to Fulvestrant (the active ingredient in Faslodex, a treatment for advanced breast cancer) involves two steps where copper reagents are used. The first of these steps, which is the introduction of the side chain via a 1,6-addition of an organocuprate to a dienone, uses 5 mol % of CuCl.
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| Recrystallised Palladium (II) |
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Dr Trevor Laird
Two interesting papers in Angewandte Chemie International Edition (Yamada S et al, pp2215-8, and Anbarasan P et al pp 2219-2222) describe ways of introducing F into a specific position in an aromatic or heteroaromatic structure.
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| Conference Highlights - our Synthesis and Methods Symposium, Prague - June-July 2010 |
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New Catalytic Reactions
Charles Fehr works in the flavour and fragrance industry with Firmenich, an innovative company based in Geneva. He has published widely and, in his lecture presented on some of his recent synthetic targets.
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Use of Diazonium Salts in Heck-type Coupling Reactions
Since halo-organics are often manufactured from the corresponding amine, via diazonium chemistry and Sandmeyer reactions, it would seem sensible to try to use the diazonium salts in reaction instead of the halides.
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| Book Reviews |
| New Journal begins with Excellent Perspective Article |
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Dr Trevor Laird
The Royal Society of Chemistry has launched the first issue of the new journal Chemical Science, the first issues this year of which are available free of charge (www.rsc.org/chemicalscience) to help build up readership. This is a competitive area for journals with Nature Chemistry also starting last year.
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| Overall Heterocyclic Chemistry |
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Dr Trevor Laird
The 5th edition of the best undergraduate and postgraduate teaching text on heterocyclic chemistry has recently been published, by Joule and Mills. The 5th edition has been considerably revised and expanded and contains several new chapters.
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Practical Methods for Biocatalysis and Biotransformations
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Dr Trevor Laird
This excellent volume begins with along and superb review of the use of biocatalysis in the pharmaceutical industry (both in discovery and in process chemistry) and has lots of interesting examples. The book is worth purchasing for this chapter alone!
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| ... and finally - you might be an engineer if...... |
| ... ... .. ... you know what http:// stands for. |
