Current Organic Chemistry - Volume 18, Issue 24, 2014

The synthesis of optically pure compounds remains a challenge in modern organic chemistry due to the great importance of single stereoisomers in the pharmaceutical, food, flavor, and fragrance industries. The crucial factor influencing the chemical yield and stereoselectivity of asymmetric reactions is the use of the appropriate chiral catalyst. Recently there has been a growing interest in the synthesis and modification of va Read More

The electrophilic C-H bond substitution of arenes (ArH) by the linear nitronium (ONO+) ion or nitrating agents (Y-NO2), giving nitroarenes (ArNO2), has been of interest in organic chemistry for many years. The reactions were found to take place via a nitroarenium ion [Ar(H)NO2]+ (σ-complex). Research in the recent twenty years has revealed that two reactive intermediates, a charge-transfer complex (π-complex) [ArH, NO2]+ Read More

The synthesis of complex natural products from simple and common intermediates has been one of the major goals in synthetic organic chemistry. Toward this objective, if such simple scaffolds are suitably decorated with diverse functional groups they present opportunities not only to synthesize the target compounds but also construct the close analogues to investigate the biological properties. The Morita-Baylis-Hillma Read More

In this critical overview of what kind of organic chemistry is currently performed by biotechnology, the examples of the production of high added value molecules for pharmaceutical industry, of biomaterials and their modification as well as of commodities are discussed. The major strengths as well as weaknesses of this kind of approach in comparison to current organic chemistry achievements are discussed. The prospects o Read More

A microbial and enzymatic process for xylitol production that initiates from D-glucose occurs by virtue of a three-step process in which D-arabitol is the first intermediate product and D-xylulose is the second. To date, the steps of the formation of D-arabitol and the conversion of xylitol from D-xylulose are key points of departure for promoting the overall process for xylitol production from D-glucose. This review provides compr Read More

The design and synthesis of graphene-based nanocomposites have drawn enormous attention in recent years owing to their unique structural properties. Here, we describe a simple hydrothermal procedure to fabricate Cu-graphene nanocomposites as a catalyst for direct hydroxylating benzene to phenol in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. The nanocomposites present high catalytic activity and short reaction time, at Read More

This report explores Suzuki-Miyaura coupling under microwave irradiation, using a new generation of catalyst that is based on natural phosphate (NP) impregnated by palladium. This catalyst was prepared by the treatment of natural phosphate with bis(benzonitrile)palladium(II) chloride in acetone at room temperature. The catalyst displayed high catalytic activity for the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of aryl bromides and chlorid Read More