Virtual-Ligand-Assisted Screening Strategy to Discover Enabling Ligands for Transition Metal Catalysis

The ligand screening process, in which an optimal ligand for a reaction of interest is identified from an enormous and diverse set of candidate molecules, is of particular importance in the development of transition metal catalysis. Conventionally, this process has been performed by experimental trial-and-error cycles, which require significant time and resources. Herein, we report a novel strategy called “virtual-ligand-assisted (VLA) screening” that enables practical in silico ligand screening based on the transition state theory. We developed a virtual ligand, PCl*3, which parameterizes both the electronic and steric effects of monodentate phosphorus(III) ligands in quantum chemical calculations, and used it to assess how these effects perturb the energy profile of a reaction. This parameter-based ligand screening approach allowed us to identify the optimal electronic and steric effects for a reaction of interest, thereby affording guiding principles for rational ligand design. The VLA screening strategy was demonstrated for the selectivity-determining step of the rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of a terminal olefin, and phosphorus(III) ligands with potentially high linear or branched selectivities were designed. These findings indicate that VLA screening is a promising approach for streamlining the ligand screening process.

5 Metal-Catalyzed C—H Activation

Synthetic organic electrochemistry is currently experiencing a renaissance, the merger of electrochemistry with transition-metal-catalyzed C—H activation would provide not only an environmentally friendly approach, but also offer new opportunities that conventional transition-metal catalysis may not have achieved. In this chapter, we summarize the recent progress made in catalytic C—H activation reactions using organometallic electrochemistry, including C—C, C—O, C—N, C—halogen, and C—P bond-forming reactions.

8 Sydnone-Based Cycloadditions in Click Chemistry

The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of sydnones (1,2,3-oxadiazolium-5-olates) with dipolarophiles, such as alkynes, has recently emerged as a versatile click reaction, with applications ranging from the mild and regioselective preparation of polysubstituted pyrazoles for drug discovery to the metal-free bioorthogonal ligation of biomacromolecules in living cells. This chapter reviews the importance of metal catalysis for controlling the regioselectivity of the copper-mediated reaction (CuSAC), as well as the development of fluorogenic probes, the click and release strategy, and photo-triggered ligations based on strain-promoted sydnone–alkyne cycloadditions (SPSAC).