Syntheses of various 5-(bromoaryl)-substituted uracils

The Suzuki Pd(0)-catalyzed coupling between arylboronic acids and aryl bromides or iodides in weakly alkaline medium, previously further developed by us, has been used for regioselective preparation of 5-(2′-bromo-5′-furyl)-, 5-(2′-bromo-4′-furyl)-, 5-(2′-bromo-5′-thienyl)-, 5-(2′-bromo-4′-thienyl)-, 5-(4′-bromo-2′-thiazolyl)-, 5-(3′-bromophenyl)-, 5-(6′-bromo-2′-pyridyl)- and 5-(4′-bromo-2′-pyrimidyl)-substituted 2,4-di-t-butoxypyrimidines. In the coupling between 2,4-di-t-butoxy-5-pyrimidineboronic acid and the nine different aryl dibromides that were tried as coupling partners, only the 2,4- and 2,5-dibromothiazoles did not give satisfactory yields, 15% and 0%, respectively. The other seven aryl dibromides gave the desired 5-(bromoaryl)-2,4-di-t-butoxypyrimidines in 58-89% yield. Attempts to synthesise 2,4-di-t-butoxy-5-(2′-bromo-4′-thienyl)pyrimidine from 2-bromo-4-iodothiophene failed. Dealkylation of the 5-(bromoaryl)-2,4-di-t-butoxypyrimidines in 2.5 M hydrochloric acid gave the corresponding 5-(bromoaryl)uracils in almost quantitative yields.