Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ConfiMet (Bioinspired Oxidation of Hydrocarbons in Confined Spaces)
Período documentado: 2023-01-01 hasta 2024-12-31
In the general context of developing sustainable methods for chemical synthesis, the selective functionalization of C-H bonds is an area of enormous potential given the ubiquity of C-H bonds in organic molecules. The main challenge associated with this transformation is discriminating among the multiple C-H bonds present in a molecule -typically of similar strength. The ConfiMet project aims at addressing this problem by mimicking enzymatic C-H oxidation reactions, which are highly selective transformations governed by molecular recognition phenomena. The objective of ConfiMet is to develop synthetic molecular receptors functionalized with early transition metal complexes (metallocavitands) able to perform C-H oxidations of substrates bound within the binding site of the receptor, delivering unprecedented selectivity profiles. This newfound selectivity will be dictated by the orientation of the substrate within the active site, which will be pre-organized by means of carefully designed non-covalent interactions.
1. Two new metallocavitand receptors based on Mn and Fe have been synthesized. These hosts are based on a supporting scaffold that incorporates hydrogen bond donor fragments that should help pre-organize the resulting metallocavitands.
2. The Fe-based metallocavitand receptor has been tested in the C-H oxidation reaction of adamantane, producing interesting preliminary results in terms of selectivity.
2. The Fe-based metallocavitand receptor has been tested in the C-H oxidation reaction of adamantane, producing interesting preliminary results in terms of selectivity.
Although a preliminary C-H oxidation reaction test was carried out with a promising outcome, the early termination of the action did not permit to gather sufficient reactivity data to extract meaningful conclusions. Likewise, a realistic assessment of the potential impact of the results is not possible.