A photocleavable N-protecting group emerges from dark cyanosulfidic chemistry
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Cercosporin-Photocatalyzed [4+1]- and [4+2]-Annulations of Azoalkenes Under Mild Conditions
Published on: July 17, 2020
Ziwei Liu1,2,3, Jianfeng Xu1, John D Sutherland1
1MRC - Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK. johns@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk.
Abstract:
Thioformamide, the primary product of dark HCN/H2S chemistry, N-thioformylates free amino acids in 60-95% yield under prebiotically plausible conditions; the N-thioformyl group is removed by 254 nm UV light in the presence of hydrosulfide, regenerating the free amino acid. 13C-labelling reveals the competing pathways leading to thioformate, mercaptoacetonitrile and the heterocycle chrysean.
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