Palladium-catalysed coupling reactions based on a novel and easy-to-synthesise difluorinated organotrifluoroborate were used to assemble precursors to 6π-electrocyclisations of three different types. Electrocyclisations took place at temperatures between 90 and 240 °C, depending on the central component of the π-system; nonaromatic trienes were most reactive, but even systems that required the temporary dearomatisation of two arenyl subunits underwent electrocyclisation, albeit at elevated temperatures. Photochemical conditions were effective for these more demanding reactions. The package of methods delivered a structurally diverse set of fluorinated arenes, spanning a 20 kcal mol⁻¹ range of reactivity, by a flexible route.

Palladium(II)-catalysed cycloalkenylation (Saegusa–Ito cyclisation) has been used for the first time to transform difluorinated silylenol ethers to difluorinated cycloalkenones under mild conditions. The silylenol ether precursors were prepared in two high-yielding steps from trifluoroethanol, and cyclised in moderate to good yields. A combination of air and copper(I) chloride in acetonitrile gave the turnover of the initial palladium(II) salt, whereas the provision of an oxygen atmosphere ensured more rapid reaction. Annulations required a minimum level of substitution on the chain, but failed when the alkene was substituted. Annelations allowed a range of n,6-bicyclic systems to be prepared and afforded three products, in which heterocycles were fused to the new cyclohexenone. The least substituted system explored underwent cyclisation followed by terminal oxidation to a cyclic enal, which corresponded to a Wacker product of unusual regiochemistry.

Vinyl cyclopropane rearrangement (VCPR) has been utilised to synthesise a difluorinated cyclopentene stereospecifically and under mild thermal conditions. Difluorocyclopropanation chemistry afforded ethyl 3-(1′(2′2′-difluoro-3′-phenyl)cyclopropyl) propenoate as all four stereoisomers (18a, 18b, 22a, 22b) (all racemic). The trans-E isomer (18a), prepared in 70 % yield over three steps, underwent near quantitative VCPR to difluorocyclopentene 23 (99 %). Rearrangements were monitored by ¹⁹F NMR (100–180 °C). While cis/trans cyclopropane stereoisomerisation was facile, favouring trans-isomers by a modest margin, no E/Z alkene isomerisation was observed even at higher temperatures. Neither cis nor trans Z-alkenoates underwent VCPR, even up to much higher temperatures (180 °C). The cis-cyclopropanes underwent [3,3]-rearrangement to afford benzocycloheptadiene species. The reaction stereospecificity was explored by using electronic structure calculations, and UB3LYP/6-31G* methodology allowed the energy barriers for cyclopropane stereoisomerisation, diastereoisomeric VCPR and [3,3]-rearrangement to be ranked in agreement with experiment.

The direct microwave-mediated condensation between 3-oxetanone and primary amides and thioamides has delivered moderate to good yields of (hydroxymethyl)oxazoles and (hydroxymethyl)thiazoles. The reactions use a sustainable solvent and only require short reaction times. These are highly competitive methods for the construction of two classes of valuable heteroarenes, which bear a useful locus for further elaboration. Electronic structure calculations have shown that the order of events involves chalcogen atom attack at sp³ carbon and alkyl–oxygen cleavage. The critical role of acid catalysis was shown clearly, and the importance of acid strength was demonstrated. The calculated barriers were also fully consistent with the observed order of thioamide and amide reactivity. Spontaneous ring opening involves a modest degree of CO cleavage, moderating the extent of strain relief. On the acid-catalysed pathway, CO cleavage is less extensive still, but proton transfer to the nucleofuge is well advanced with the carboxylic acid catalysts, and essentially complete with methanesulfonic acid.

Although Grubbs metathesis catalysts have enabled syntheses of a range of molecules, alkene isomerization, a known and problematic side reaction, is poorly understood. Several mechanisms which have been advanced to account for isomerization were studied by using electronic structure calculations. The pathway catalyzed by a ruthenium hydride emerged as the most facile process by a significant margin. For the first time, we have obtained experimental evidence for the presence of this species in a metathesis-active system.

The thermodynamic effective molarities of a series of simple cycloalkenes, synthesised from α,ω-dienes by reaction with Grubbs’ second generation precatalyst, have been evaluated. Effective molarities were measured from a series of small scale metathesis reactions and agreed well with empirical predictions derived from the number of rotors and the product ring strain. The use of electronic structure calculations (at the M06-L/6-311G** level of theory) was explored for predicting thermodynamic effective molarities in ring-closing metathesis. However, it was found that it was necessary to apply a correction to DFT-derived free energies to account for the entropic effects of solvation.

Trifluoroethanol was converted into difluorinated (racemic) analogues of amicetose and rhodinose by metallated difluoroenol acetal chemistry, protection, release of the latent difluoromethyl ketone, stereoselective reduction and ozonolysis in acidic methanol. A fortuitous separation of diastereoisomers allowed the diastereoisomeric pyranoses to be obtained cleanly. Though reductive defluorination allowed a facile entry to the route, the corresponding monofluoro sugar analogues could not be separated. Instead, Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation followed by epoxide ring-opening with an unusual nucleophilic fluoride source allowed enantiomerically highly enriched and selectively protected fluorodiols to be obtained. Ozonolysis then afforded the methyl pyranosides, which could be transformed in a number of ways. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2009)