Chalcogen–Chalcogen Bonding Catalysis Enables Assembly of Discrete Molecules

Despite the observation of noncovalent
interactions between chalcogen
atoms in X-ray crystal structures, catalysis that harnesses the power
of such chalcogen–chalcogen bonding interactions to produce
advanced molecules remains an unresolved problem. Here, we show that
a class of extraordinary chalcogen-bonding catalysts enables assembly
of discrete small molecules including three β-ketoaldehydes
and one indole, leading to the construction of N-heterocycles
in a highly efficient manner. The strong activation ability of these
rationally designed catalysts provides a general solution to the intrinsic
limitations of chalcogen bonding catalysis.

尽管在X射线晶体结构中已观察到硫族元素原子之间的非共价相互作用，但利用此类硫族-硫族键合相互作用之力以产生高级分子的催化作用仍是一大悬而未决的问题。在此，我们展示一类卓越的硫族键合催化剂能够组装包括三种β-酮醛和一种吲哚在内的离散小分子，从而以极高的效率构建N杂环。这些经过理性设计的催化剂的强大活化能力为硫族键合催化作用的固有局限性提供了一般性解决方案。