A halogen bond-donor amino acid for organocatalysis in water
Bergamaschi, G.a, Lascialfari, L.a, Pizzi, A.a, Martinez Espinoza, M.I.a, Demitri, N.b, Milani, A.a, Gori, A.c, Metrangolo, P.a
a Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical Engineering Giulio Natta, Politecnico di Milano, Via L. Mancinelli 7, Milan, 20131, Italy
b Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste, S.S. 14 Km 163.5 in Area Science Park, Basovizza, Trieste, 34149, Italy
c Istituto di Chimica del Riconoscimento Molecolare (ICRM-CNR), via Mario Bianco 9, Milano, 20131, Italy
Herein we report a halogen bond-donor amino acid, 4-iodotetrafluorophenylalanine, which behaves as a catalyst for the aqueous synthesis of bis-(heterocyclic)methanes. We also provide experimental evidence that halogen bonding is a plausible explanation for the observed catalytic effect.
