Metal-free synthesis of aryl esters by coupling aryl carboxylic acids and aryl boronic acids

A facile synthesis of aryl esters is developed by coupling aryl carboxylic acids and aryl boronic acids in the presence of PhI(OAc)₂ and carbonyl diimidazole. A wide range of functional groups were tolerant to the metal-free reaction condition that led to the desired products in good yields.     

Copper-catalyzed cross-coupling of aryl iodides and aryl acetylenes using microwave heating

An efficient copper-catalyzed cross-coupling of aryl iodides with aryl acetylenes under microwave irradiation is described. The reaction proceeds under microwave heating with 10 mol % CuI and 2 equiv Cs₂CO₃ in 43-87% yields.     

Ligand free open air copper(II) mediated aryl formamidation and amination of aryl halides

A simple synthetic procedure for direct formamidation and amination of aryl halides mediated by copper(II) salts was developed in open air, without an external ligand in formamide with potassium carbonate as a base. This approach is particularly efficient when electron active aryl halides are used as substrates. In these cases almost quantitative formamidation was observed.     

Palladium catalyzed atom-efficient cross-coupling reactions of triarylbismuths with aryl iodides and aryl triflates

The atom-efficient cross-coupling of triarylbismuths with aryl iodides or aryl triflates using catalytic Pd(OAc)₂/PPh₃ and K₃PO₄ as base in DMF at 90 °C to afford the corresponding functionalized biaryls in high yields is reported.     

Synthesis of aryl azides from aryl halides promoted by Cu2O/tetraethylammonium prolinate

An efficient approach to aryl azides, in short reaction times and good to excellent yields, has been developed via the reaction of aryl halides with sodium azide under Cu₂O/tetraethylammonium prolinate catalysis.     

Reversal of aryl bromide reactivity in Pd-catalysed aryl amination reactions promoted by a hemilabile aminophosphine ligand

Incorporation of a hemilabile amino group with a bulky, electron-rich phosphorus ligand led to a reversal in the order of aryl bromide reactivity in Pd-catalysed aryl amination reactions.     

Copper oxide nanoparticles catalyzed synthesis of aryl sulfides via cascade reaction of aryl halides with thiourea

Recyclable copper oxide nanoparticles catalyzed simple and highly efficient protocol for the synthesis of symmetrical aryl sulfides was developed by the cross-coupling of aromatic halides with inexpensive and commercially available thiourea which was used as an effective sulfur surrogate. The present cross-coupling protocol of thiourea, via cascade reaction with various substituted aryl halides, producing desired aryl sulfides, has an added advantage of avoiding foul-smelling thiols.     

Uncatalysed coupling of an activated aryl chloride with aryllithium and aryl Grignard reagents

Substitution of the chloro group in 2-(2-chlorophenyl)-4,4-dimethyl-2-oxazoline to afford biaryls occurs upon reaction with either aryllithium reagents or aryl Grignard reagents. The reactions with Grignard reagents occur under similar conditions to a previously reported manganese-catalysed procedure. The reactions with lithium reagents, whilst not always affording greater yields of product than the Grignard reagents, involve much shorter reaction times and afford yields, which are comparable with those obtained from the corresponding fluoro derivative.     

Acid-mediated aryl migration reaction of C-3 aryl substituted pyrrolidinoindolines

Aryl migration reactions of C-3 aryl substituted pyrrolidinoindoline compounds to provide highly conjugated C-2 aryl indole compounds have been discovered. The developed reactions have a wide substrate scope and proceed in high yield under simple acidic conditions. A unique cationic cyclopropane intermediate as the transition state is proposed.     

Triallyl(aryl)silanes serve as a convenient agent for silicon-based cross-coupling reaction of aryl halides

Triallyl(aryl)silanes, stable and easily accessible arylsilanes, were found to react with aryl bromides in the presence of a palladium catalyst (PdCl₂-PCy₃) and tetrabutylammonium fluoride (TBAF) in good yields. The scope of the reaction is broad, and a wide variety of functional groups are tolerant. Allyl groups on Si are readily cleaved upon treatment with TBAF to form fluorosilanes, silanepolyols, siloxanes and/or their mixed forms, which might be responsible for high efficiency of the reaction.     

Microwave-assisted selenium dioxide oxidation of aryl methyl ketones to aryl glyoxals

We report an improved procedure for the synthesis of phenyl glyoxal and a series of para-substituted aryl glyoxals by microwave-assisted selenium dioxide oxidation. The reaction time has been reduced from several hours to three minutes for activated aryl methyl ketone substrates and 18 min for deactivated substrates, with all reactions affording quantitative conversion into the corresponding aryl glyoxals.     

Palladium catalyzed-dehalogenation of aryl chlorides and bromides using phosphite ligands

The catalytic system based on Pd-phosphite for the dehalogenation reactions of aryl chlorides and bromides is described. The Pd-phosphite catalyst effectively promoted the dehalogenation of aryl halides to give dehalogenated products in moderate to excellent yields. The aryl chlorides required strong bases such as NaO^tBu for this transformation, whereas the aryl bromides were dehalogenated in the presence of weak bases such as Cs₂CO₃. This catalytic system exhibited tolerance to functional groups such as methoxy, amine, hydroxyl, ether, amide, benzyl and ketone groups. It also demonstrated chemoselectivity in that bromochlorobenzene was converted only to chlorobenzene.     

An efficient catalyst system for diaryl ether synthesis from aryl chlorides

The combination of 2-phosphino-substituted N-arylpyrroles or related indoles (cataCXium^®P) and Pd(OAc)₂ allows for efficient cross-coupling reactions of aryl chlorides and phenols to give diaryl ethers. A variety of aryl and heteroaryl chlorides can be coupled with substituted phenols showing unprecedented catalyst turnover numbers.     

Regioselective lithiation of aryl benzyl ethers

The lithiation of a series of aryl benzyl ethers containing -F and -OMe groups has been studied. It was found that the presence of one or two fluorine atoms in the meta position relative to the oxygen atom prevents the lithiation at the benzyl carbon atom. 3-(3′,5′-Dimethoxybenzyloxy)fluorobenzene was lithiated and next reacted with DMF to give 2-(3′,5′-dimethoxybenzyloxy)-6-fluorobenzaldehyde. A three-step procedure was applied to remove three hydrogen atoms from 1,3-difluoro-5-(3′,5′-dimethoxybenzyloxy)benzene and replace them with methyl groups by reactions of the lithiated compounds with MeI.     

Silver-mediated fluorination of aryl silanes

A regiospecific silver-mediated fluorination of aryl silanes is reported. The reaction is operationally simple, and employs Ag₂O as readily available, inexpensive silver source, which can be recovered.     

Palladium-catalyzed deacetonative coupling of aryl propargylic alcohols with aryl chlorides in water

A highly efficient and green process for palladium-catalyzed deacetonative coupling of aryl propargylic alcohols with aryl chlorides has been developed. The reaction occurs smoothly in neat water with 2?mol% PdCl₂ as catalyst, and various synthetically useful functional groups, including ether, aldehyde, ketone, and heterocyclics, are well tolerated. Moreover, the reaction could proceed through a consecutive Sonogashira/deacetonative process using 2-methyl-3-butyn-2-ol and aryl chlorides as coupling partners, affording the symmetric alkynes in good yields.     

Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction of aryl chlorides with aryl boronic acids catalyzed by a palladium dichloride adduct of N-diphenylphosphanyl-2-aminopyridine

One palladium dichloride adduct of a phosphine-pyridine ligand N-diphenylphosphanyl-2-aminopyridine (L₁) [(L₁)PdCl₂] (1) has been prepared and structurally characterized. Compound 1 can be used as an effective catalyst for the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions of unreactive aryl chlorides with aryl boronic acids, and worked much better than its mono- or bidentate phosphine ligands. The reactions with a wide scope of substrates proceeded to give desired products in good to excellent yields.     

A new palladium catalyzed protocol for atom-efficient cross-coupling reactions of triarylbismuths with aryl halides and triflates

A new palladium catalyzed protocol for an atom-efficient cross-coupling reaction of triarylbismuths with aryl halides and triflates has been described. The palladium catalytic system with Cs₂CO₃ base was found to be very efficient in DMA solvent to furnish excellent yields of cross-coupled functionalized biaryls in short reaction times.     

Recyclable polymer-supported Pd catalysts for aryl amination reactions

Polymer-supported palladium catalysts were prepared from three commercially available phosphine-functionalised polymers (PS-PR₂), Pd₂(dba)₃ and P(t-Bu)₃. Catalyst stability was investigated using VT ³¹P NMR spectroscopy. One of the catalysts can be reused in the amination of bromobenzene and chlorotoluene, up to three times, without loss in yield. Recyclability of the catalysts is dependent on the method of preparation and the nature of the polymer-bound phosphine.     

Investigation of the scope and mechanism of copper catalyzed regioselective methylthiolation of aryl halides

Methylthiolation of structurally diverse aryl halides was accomplished under fluoride free conditions using catalytic amounts of CuI, and DMSO as the methylthiolation source. Optimization studies unveiled several varieties of promoters among which Zn(OAc)₂ was found ideal. The analogous reaction with DMSO-d₆ afforded corresponding deuterated aryl methyl thioether with 99% purity. Mechanistic studies revealed CuSMe as the active methylthiolation agent.