Nanotechnology Now

Our NanoNews Digest Sponsors
Heifer International



Home > Press > All that Glitters is Gold

Abstract:
Gold Cyclization Reaction Provides Important Building Blocks for Pharmaceuticals

All that Glitters is Gold

Weinheim, Germany | Posted on January 7th, 2011

In many significant natural products, furans are a key motif. These oxygen-containing five-membered heterocycles are also versatile building blocks in the construction of highly complex target structures. As such, they are important scaffolds in organic and pharmaceutical chemistry. As reported in the European Journal of Organic Chemistry, A. Stephen K. Hashmi and a team at Universität Heidelberg (Germany) have now introduced a general protocol for the preparation of highly substituted furans through a gold-catalyzed cyclization reaction.

The efficiency of reactions is often thought of in terms of atom economy, and the search for more efficient alternatives to classical chemical reactions is now an area of intense research. In this context, transition-metal catalysts are becoming a popular choice amongst chemists, because they are often used in only very small amounts, which conforms to the atom-economy rule and minimizes waste. Notably, in contrast to the often harsh conditions required to perform classical chemical transformations, most transition-metal catalyzed reactions can be performed under mild reaction conditions and within a short timeframe.

Because gold catalysts are robust, their popularity has increased significantly in the last few years. Gold catalysts can easily be handled in air, and they are also tolerant to water. Moreover, gold catalysts often show higher activity and higher selectivity than their more popular palladium counterparts. Gold is particularly well suited for substrates that bear a triple carbon-carbon bond (i.e., an alkyne), as it coordinates preferentially to this bond, resulting in a highly reactive complex that is prone to attack. As such, the gold-catalyzed cyclization of an alkyne tethered to an alcohol can provide easy access to highly substituted furans.

The German research team found that the gold(I)-catalyzed cyclization of various 2-alkynylallyl alcohols proceeded well and afforded the desired furan products with the use of low catalyst loadings under very mild reaction conditions. Importantly, both di- and trisubstituted furans could be obtained, which allows structural variety in the building blocks. Bifunctional substrates could also be cyclized to provide chemically interesting bisfurans. This synthetically simple route provides quick and easy access to highly substituted furan building blocks, which may help to facilitate the study of this important class of compounds.

Author: A. Stephen K. Hashmi, Universität Heidelberg (Germany),

Title: Cyclization of 2-Alkynylallyl Alcohols to Highly Substituted Furans by Gold(I)-Carbene Complexes

European Journal of Organic Chemistry, Permalink to the article: dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejoc.201001479

####

For more information, please click here

Copyright © European Journal of Organic Chemistry

If you have a comment, please Contact us.

Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Bookmark:
Delicious Digg Newsvine Google Yahoo Reddit Magnoliacom Furl Facebook

Related News Press

Chemistry

What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024

Two-dimensional bimetallic selenium-containing metal-organic frameworks and their calcinated derivatives as electrocatalysts for overall water splitting March 8th, 2024

News and information

Researchers develop artificial building blocks of life March 8th, 2024

How surface roughness influences the adhesion of soft materials: Research team discovers universal mechanism that leads to adhesion hysteresis in soft materials March 8th, 2024

Two-dimensional bimetallic selenium-containing metal-organic frameworks and their calcinated derivatives as electrocatalysts for overall water splitting March 8th, 2024

Academic/Education

Rice University launches Rice Synthetic Biology Institute to improve lives January 12th, 2024

Multi-institution, $4.6 million NSF grant to fund nanotechnology training September 9th, 2022

National Space Society Helps Fund Expanding Frontier’s Brownsville Summer Entrepreneur Academy: National Space Society and Club for the Future to Support Youth Development Program in South Texas June 24th, 2022

How a physicist aims to reduce the noise in quantum computing: NAU assistant professor Ryan Behunin received an NSF CAREER grant to study how to reduce the noise produced in the process of quantum computing, which will make it better and more practical April 1st, 2022

Discoveries

What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024

Researchers’ approach may protect quantum computers from attacks March 8th, 2024

High-tech 'paint' could spare patients repeated surgeries March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Announcements

What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

The Access to Advanced Health Institute receives up to $12.7 million to develop novel nanoalum adjuvant formulation for better protection against tuberculosis and pandemic influenza March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

NanoNews-Digest
The latest news from around the world, FREE




  Premium Products
NanoNews-Custom
Only the news you want to read!
 Learn More
NanoStrategies
Full-service, expert consulting
 Learn More











ASP
Nanotechnology Now Featured Books




NNN

The Hunger Project