Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry - Volume 1, Issue 3, 2004

Chiral phosphorus(III) ligands with chirality residing on the phosphorus atom have seen a renaissance upon the discovery that coordination to boron stabilises the phosphorus atom towards both oxidation and racemization. In this review we describe the newer methods that are available for the preparation of P-chirogenic ligands and discuss their advantages and limitations.

Changing substituents on phosphorus ligands can cause marked changes in the behaviour of the free ligands and of their transition metal complexes. In this review, we will describe the synthesis and the application of P(t-Bu)3, an efficient ligand in numerous homogeneous catalytic systems and rationalise its singular behaviour.

Characteristic reactions of lithium eneselenolates generated from selenoamides, selenoic acid Oesters, and selenothioic acid S-esters with carbon electrophiles are described. Reaction and thermodynamic properties of ammonium eneselenolates of selenothioic acid S-esters are shown. Generation of eneselenolates from alkenyl and alkynyl metallic species is also introduced.

Evidence obtained by carbon labelling and carbene-scavenging techniques for the establishment of an α-oxocarbene-oxirene interconversion in the photolysis of acyclic α-diazoketones is summarised. Normalsized alicyclic α-diazoketones and o-quinone diazides react without intervention of the oxirene route, whereas the 12-membered ring system behaves like the acyclic counterparts. The oxirene participation is discussed with Read More

NMR studies of stable-isotope labeled oligonucleotides have provided useful information regarding nucleic acid structures, nucleic acid - drug binding, and nucleic acid - protein interactions. For the conformational elucidation of the sugar-phosphate backbone and / or the sugar moieties in nucleic acids, 13Clabeled oligonucleotides are very useful, and for the transformation of nucleic acid - drug binding sight are 15N-labele Read More

Rhazinilam (1) is a natural substance with unique tubulin-binding properties. The present review describes the isolation and structure elucidation of (1), the available data regarding its biological properties, its semi- and total syntheses and its structure-activity relationships through the synthesis of analogues.