1. Tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane-Catalyzed Reactions Using Silanes
Taylor Hackel, Nicholas A McGrath Molecules. 2019 Jan 25;24(3):432. doi: 10.3390/molecules24030432.
The utility of an electron-deficient, air stable, and commercially available Lewis acid tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane has recently been comprehensively explored. While being as reactive as its distant cousin boron trichloride, it has been shown to be much more stable and capable of catalyzing a variety of powerful transformations, even in the presence of water. The focus of this review will be to highlight those catalytic reactions that utilize a silane as a stoichiometric reductant in conjunction with tris(pentafluorophenyl) borane in the reduction of alcohols, carbonyls, or carbonyl-like derivatives.
2. Pd-Catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura Cross-Coupling of Pentafluorophenyl Esters
Jonathan Buchspies, Daniel J Pyle, Huixin He, Michal Szostak Molecules. 2018 Nov 29;23(12):3134. doi: 10.3390/molecules23123134.
Although the palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of aryl esters has received significant attention, there is a lack of methods that utilize cheap and readily accessible Pd-phosphane catalysts, and can be routinely carried out with high cross-coupling selectivity. Herein, we report the first general method for the cross-coupling of pentafluorophenyl esters (pentafluorophenyl = pfp) by selective C⁻O acyl cleavage. The reaction proceeds efficiently using Pd(0)/phosphane catalyst systems. The unique characteristics of pentafluorophenyl esters are reflected in the fully selective cross-coupling vs. phenolic esters. Of broad synthetic interest, this report establishes pentafluorophenyl esters as new, highly reactive, bench-stable, economical, ester-based, electrophilic acylative reagents via acyl-metal intermediates. Mechanistic studies strongly support a unified reactivity scale of acyl electrophiles by C(O)⁻X (X = N, O) activation. The reactivity of pfp esters can be correlated with barriers to isomerization around the C(acyl)⁻O bond.
3. End Group Dye-Labeled Polycarbonate Block Copolymers for Micellar (Immuno-)Drug Delivery
Christian Czysch, et al. Macromol Rapid Commun. 2022 Jun;43(12):e2200095. doi: 10.1002/marc.202200095. Epub 2022 Apr 10.
Defined conjugation of functional molecules to block copolymer end groups is a powerful strategy to enhance the scope of micellar carriers for drug delivery. In this study, an approach to access well-defined polycarbonate-based block copolymers by labeling their end groups with single fluorescent dye molecules is established. Following controlled polymerization conditions, the block copolymers' primary hydroxy end group can be converted into activated pentafluorophenyl ester carbonates and subsequently aminolyzed with fluorescent dyes that are equipped with primary amines. During a solvent-evaporation process, the resulting end group dye-labeled block copolymers self-assemble into narrowly dispersed ~25 nm-sized micelles and simultaneously encapsulate hydrophobic (immuno-)drugs. The covalently attached fluorescent tracer can be used to monitor both uptake into cells and stability under biologically relevant conditions, including incubation with blood plasma or during blood circulation in zebrafish embryos. By encapsulation of the toll-like receptor 7/8 (TLR7/8) agonist CL075, immune stimulatory polymeric micelles are generated that get internalized by various antigen-presenting dendritic cells and promote their maturation. Generally, such end group dye-labeled polycarbonate block copolymers display ideal features to permit targeted delivery of hydrophobic drugs to key immune cells for vaccination and cancer immunotherapy.
