Hydrogen Storage: Thermodynamic Analysis of Alkyl-Quinolines and Alkyl-Pyridines as Potential Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHC)

The liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC) are aromatic molecules, which can be considered as an attractive option for the storage and transport of hydrogen. A considerable amount of hydrogen up to 7–8% wt. can be loaded and unloaded with a reversible chemical reaction. Substituted quinolines and pyridines are available from petroleum, coal processing, and wood preservation, or they can be synthesized from aniline. Quinolines and pyridines can be considered as potential LOHC systems, provided they have favorable thermodynamic properties, which were the focus of this current study. The absolute vapor pressures of methyl-quinolines were measured using the transpiration method. The standard molar enthalpies of vaporization of alkyl-substituted quinolines and pyridines were derived from the vapor pressure temperature dependencies. Thermodynamic data on vaporization and formation enthalpies available in the literature were collected, evaluated, and combined with our own experimental results. The theoretical standard molar gas-phase enthalpies of formation of quinolines and pyridines, calculated using the quantum-chemical G4 methods, agreed well with the evaluated experimental data. Reliable standard molar enthalpies of formation in the liquid phase were derived by combining high-level quantum chemistry values of gas-phase enthalpies of formation with experimentally determined enthalpies of vaporization. The liquid-phase hydrogenation/dehydrogenation reaction enthalpies of alkyl-substituted pyridines and quinolines were calculated and compared with the data for other potential liquid organic hydrogen carriers. The comparatively low enthalpies of reaction make these heteroaromatics a seminal LOHC system.

Energetic and Geometric Characteristics of the Substituents: Part 2: The Case of NO2, Cl, and NH2 Groups in Their Mono-Substituted Derivatives of Simple Nitrogen Heterocycles

Variously substituted N-heterocyclic compounds are widespread across bio- and medicinal chemistry. The work aims to computationally evaluate the influence of the type of N-heterocyclic compound and the substitution position on the properties of three model substituents: NO2, Cl, and NH2. For this reason, the energetic descriptor of global substituent effect (Erel), geometry of substituents, and electronic descriptors (cSAR, pEDA, sEDA) are considered, and interdependences between these characteristics are discussed. Furthermore, the existence of an endocyclic N atom may induce proximity effects specific for a given substituent. Therefore, various quantum chemistry methods are used to assess them: the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM), analysis of non-covalent interactions using reduced density gradient (RDG) function, and electrostatic potential maps (ESP). The study shows that the energetic effect associated with the substitution is highly dependent on the number and position of N atoms in the heterocyclic ring. Moreover, this effect due to interaction with more than one endo N atom (e.g., in pyrimidines) can be assessed with reasonable accuracy by adding the effects calculated for interactions with one endo N atom in substituted pyridines. Finally, all possible cases of proximity interactions for the NO2, Cl, and NH2 groups are thoroughly discussed.

Iron-catalyzed synthesis of pyridines from α,β-unsaturated ketoxime acetates and N-acetyl enamides

A new method of FeCl2-catalyzed [4 + 2] annulation of α,β-unsaturated ketoxime acetates with N-acetyl enamides in batch and flow is reported. The current strategy features low-cost catalytic system, use of electron-rich olefins, operational simplicity and broad substrate scope, thus providing a facile and efficient access to substituted pyridines in moderate to good yields.

Strategies for the De Novo Synthesis of Highly Substituted Pyridine Scaffolds: Unified Total Synthesis of the Limonoid Alkaloids

Highly substituted pyridine scaffolds are found in many biologically active natural products and therapeutics. Accordingly, numerous complementary de novo approaches to obtain differentially substituted pyridines have been disclosed. This article delineates the evolution of the synthetic strategies designed to assemble the demanding tetrasubstituted pyridine core present in the limonoid alkaloids isolated from Xylocarpus granatum, including xylogranatopyridine B, granatumine A and related congeners. The most efficient and convergent construction of the core framework present in xylogranatopyridine B involved a Liebeskind pyridine synthesis and late-stage benzylic oxidation. By contrast, the synthesis of the bislactone limonoid alkaloids, such as granatumine A which exhibited moderate PTP1B-inhibitory activities, necessitated the development of a novel pyran-to-pyridine conversion. In addition, NMR calculations suggested structural misassignment of several limonoid alkaloids, and predicted their C3-epimers as the correct structures, which was further validated unequivocally through chemical synthesis. While preliminary results of the pNPP assays showed that these bislactone limonoid alkaloids were only weakly inhibitory against PTP1B, C3-deoxy-xylogranatin F, an unnatural synthetic analog, was demonstrated to be more potent than the other congeners.