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    Origins of high catalyst loading in copper(i)-catalysed Ullmann-Goldberg C-N coupling reactions
    (Cambridge : RSC, 2017) Sherborne, Grant J.; Adomeit, Sven; Menzel, Robert; Rabeah, Jabor; Brückner, Angelika; Fielding, Mark R.; Willans, Charlotte E.; Nguyen, Bao N.
    A mechanistic investigation of Ullmann-Goldberg reactions using soluble and partially soluble bases led to the identification of various pathways for catalyst deactivation through (i) product inhibition with amine products, (ii) by-product inhibition with inorganic halide salts, and (iii) ligand exchange by soluble carboxylate bases. The reactions using partially soluble inorganic bases showed variable induction periods, which are responsible for the reproducibility issues in these reactions. Surprisingly, more finely milled Cs2CO3 resulted in a longer induction period due to the higher concentration of the deprotonated amine/amide, leading to suppressed catalytic activity. These results have significant implications on future ligand development for the Ullmann-Goldberg reaction and on the solid form of the inorganic base as an important variable with mechanistic ramifications in many catalytic reactions.
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    High molecular weight mechanochromic spiropyran main chain copolymers via reproducible microwave-assisted Suzuki polycondensation
    (Cambridge : RSC Publ., 2015) Metzler, Lukas; Reichenbach, Thomas; Brügner, Oliver; Komber, Hartmut; Lombeck, Florian; Müllers, Stefan; Hanselmann, Ralf; Hillebrecht, Harald; Walter, Michael; Sommer, Michael
    Suzuki–Miyaura polycondensation (SPC) is widely used to prepare a variety of copolymers for a broad range of applications. Although SPC protocols are often used in many instances, the limits of this method and issues of molecular weight reproducibility are not often looked at in detail. By using a spiropyran-based (SP) mechanochromic copolymer, we present an optimized protocol for the microwave-assisted synthesis of a mechanochromic, alternating copolymer P(SP-alt-C10) via SPC that allows the reproduction of molecular weight distributions. Several parameters such as microwave power, temperature, stoichiometry, and ligand are screened, leading to molecular weights up to Mw ∼ 174 kg mol−1. The process of optimization is guided by NMR end group analysis which shows that dehalogenation, oxidative deborylation and SP cleavage are the limiting factors that impede further increase of molar mass, while other classical side reactions such as protiodeborylation are not observed. Embossing films of P(SP-alt-C10) yields the colored merocyanine (MC) copolymer P(MC-alt-C10) that undergoes a thermally facilitated back reaction to P(SP-alt-C10). DFT suggests that the barrier of the SP → MC transition has two contributions, with the first one being related to the color change and the second one to internal bond reorganizations. The barrier height is 1.5 eV, which suggests that the ease of the thermally facilitated back reaction is either due to residual energy stored in the deformed polymer matrix, or arises from an MC isomer that is not in the thermodynamically most stable state.