Catalytic enantioselective syn hydration of enones in water using a DNA-based catalyst was written by Boersma, Arnold J.;Coquiere, David;Geerdink, Danny;Rosati, Fiora;Feringa, Ben L.;Roelfes, Gerard. And the article was included in Nature Chemistry in 2010.Reference of 85692-37-1 This article mentions the following:
The enantioselective addition of water to olefins in an aqueous environment is a common transformation in biol. systems, but was beyond the ability of synthetic chemists. Here, we present the first examples of a non-enzymic catalytic enantioselective hydration of enones, for which we used a catalyst that comprises a copper complex, based on an achiral ligand, non-covalently bound to (deoxy)RNA, which is the only source of chirality present under the reaction conditions. The chiral β-hydroxy ketone product was obtained in up to 82% enantiomeric excess. Deuterium-labeling studies demonstrated that the reaction is diastereospecific, with only the syn hydration product formed. So far, this diastereospecific and enantioselective reaction had no equivalent in conventional homogeneous catalysis. In the experiment, the researchers used many compounds, for example, 1-(1-Methyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)ethanone (cas: 85692-37-1Reference of 85692-37-1).
1-(1-Methyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)ethanone (cas: 85692-37-1) belongs to imidazole derivatives. Many natural products, especially alkaloids, contain the imidazole ring. These imidazoles share the 1,3-C3N2 ring but feature varied substituents. Imidazole also acts as a microtubule destabilizing agents and inhibits topoisomerase and Cytochrome P450 Family 26 Subfamily A Member 1 (CYP26A1) enzymes.Reference of 85692-37-1
Referemce:
Imidazole – Wikipedia,
Imidazole | C3H4N2 – PubChem