Current Organic Synthesis - Volume 5, Issue 3, 2008

This paper focuses on the latest developments in asymmetric epoxidation of electron-deficient olefins since the review by Porter and Skidmore on chiral ligand-metal peroxide systems, polyamino acid catalysed and organocatalysed epoxidations. Particular attention has been paid to the most recent advances using chiral pyrrolidines as organocatalysts.

Recent successful examples for synthesis of new polyolefins containing polar functionalities by transition metal complex catalysis have been reviewed. The contents are consisted of the following sections: 1) background, 2) radical copolymerization, 3) direct alkane activation/functionalization (post functionalization of polyolefins), 4) controlled incorporation of reactive functionalities (and the subsequ Read More

Phosphorus- and nitrogen-containing ligands are among the most important and widely used ligands for transition-metal homogeneous catalysis (asymmetric or not). The present review combines information on the recent advances for the syntheses of these heterodentate ligands, their coordination chemistry with transition-metals, and their applications to homogeneous catalysis.

The functional diversity and catalytic potential of type III polyketide synthases are remarkable. The enzymes catalyze iterative decarboxylative condensations of malonyl unit (Claisen-type C-C bond formation) with a CoA-linked starter molecule to produce structurally diverse, pharmaceutically important secondary metabolites. Recent studies have revealed intimate structural details of the enzyme reactions, w Read More

Fully conjugated dendrimers are interesting materials as active chromophores for a range of optoelectronic applications. The rigid and well-defined framework of these materials enables structure-property relationships to be more easily understood. In this paper, we summarize the main strategies for the synthesis of poly(phenylenevinylene)- and poly(phenyleneethynylene)-based dendrimers as well as approaches to hybr Read More