Ruthenium- and rhodium-catalyzed direct carbonylation of the ortho C-H bond in the benzene ring of N-arylpyrazoles

The direct carbonylation of C-H bonds in the benzene ring of N-phenylpyrazoles via catalysis by ruthenium or rhodium complexes is described. The reaction of N-phenylpyrazoles with carbon monoxide and ethylene in the presence of Ru(3)(CO)(12) or Rh(4)(CO)(12) resulted in the site-selective carbonylation of the ortho C-H bonds in the benzene ring to give the corresponding ethyl ketones. A variety of functional groups on the benzene ring can be tolerated. N-Phenylpyrazoles have higher reactivities than would be expected, based on the pK(a) values of the conjugate acid of pyrazole. The choice of solvent for this reaction is significant, and N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMA) gives the best result.     

Agostic Si-H bond coordination assists C-H bond activation at ruthenium in bis(phosphinobenzylsilane) complexes

Reaction of a phosphinobenzylsilane compound with ruthenium complexes leads to C-H and/or Si-H activation. The new complex Ru{eta(2)-H-SiMe2CH(o-C(6)H(4))PPh2}2 (5) was isolated and X-ray, NMR and DFT studies reveal that 5 displays two agostic Si-H interactions and two carbon-metallated bonds.     

Ruthenium-catalyzed direct C-H bond arylations of heteroarenes

Ruthenium-catalyzed C-H bond arylations of indoles, thiophenes, and pyrroles were accomplished in a highly chemo- and site-selective manner through the use of removable directing groups.     

Iron-catalyzed direct arylation through directed C-H bond activation

An iron-catalyzed C-C bond formation reaction of a nitrogen-containing aromatic compound with an arylzinc reagent takes place at 0 degrees C in a good to quantitative yield. The reaction involves a C-H bond activation directed by a neighboring nitrogen atom. The important additives in this reaction are 1,10-phenanthroline, tetramethylethylenediamine, and 1,2-dichloro-2-methylpropane, in the absence of which a very low product yield was observed.     

Mechanism of the oxidative carbonylation of terminal alkynes at the ≡C-H bond in solutions of palladium complexes

The formation mechanism of the active catalyst in the oxidative carbonylation of terminal alkynes at the ≡C-H bond has been investigated for the catalytic system Pd(OAc)₂-PPh₃-p-benzoquinone (Q)-MeOH. It has been demonstrated by NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, and kinetic measurements that the catalytically active palladium is in the oxidation state 0 and is bound into complexes stabilized by p-benzoquinone (PdL₂Q, where L = PPh₃). A mechanism is suggested for the catalytic process, which includes the formation of the complex PdL₂Q, the oxidative addition of the alkyne to this complex at the ≡C-H bond, the insertion of CO into the Pd-C bond, and steps in which hydride hydrogen is intramolecularly transferred to the p-quinone.     

Palladium-catalyzed direct C-H bond alkynylations of heteroarenes using gem-dichloroalkenes

Palladium-catalyzed direct alkynylations of heteroarenes were accomplished with inexpensive gem-dichloroalkenes as user-friendly electrophiles, which set the stage for a modular, step-economical synthesis of diversely decorated heteroaryl alkynes with ample scope.     

Double C-H functionalization in sequential order: direct synthesis of polycyclic compounds by a palladium-catalyzed C-H alkenylation-arylation cascade

Palladium-catalyzed cascade C-H alkenylation and arylation provides convenient access to polycyclic aromatic compounds. Treatment of 3-bromoaniline derivatives bearing a bromocinnamyl group on the nitrogen atom with a catalytic amount of [Pd(OAc)(2)] and PCy(3)·HBF(4) in the presence of Cs(2)CO(3) in dioxane affords naphthalene-fused indole derivatives in good yields. This double cyclization reaction is also applicable to heterocyclic substrates, giving fused indoles containing a heteroaromatic ring such as dibenzofuran, dibenzothiophene, carbazole, indole, or benzofuran through heterocyclic C-H arylation. When using a 2,6-unsubstituted aniline derivative, the first C-H arylation preferentially proceeds at the more hindered position of the aniline ring.     

Ru3(CO)12-catalyzed C-H/CO/olefin coupling of N-pyridylindolines. Direct carbonylation at a C-H bond delta to the pyridine nitrogen

The reaction of N-pyridylindolines with CO and ethylene in the presence of Ru3(CO)12 results in direct carbonylation at a C-H bond delta to the pyridine sp2 nitrogen, which represents a new type of C-H/CO/olefin coupling. The presence of a pyridine ring as a directing group on the substrates is essential for the reaction to proceed. The choice of N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA) as the solvent is crucial for the reaction to proceed efficiently.     

Well-defined ruthenium(II) carboxylate as catalyst for direct C-H/C-O bond arylations with phenols in water

The ruthenium(II) carboxylate complex [Ru(O(2)CMes)(2)(p-cymene)] enabled efficient direct arylations of unactivated C-H bonds with easily available, inexpensive phenols. Extraordinary chemoselectivity of the well-defined ruthenium catalyst set the stage for challenging C-H/C-O bond functionalizations to occur under solvent-free conditions as well as in water, and allowed first direct C-H bond arylations with user-friendly diaryl sulfates as electrophiles.     

C-C and C-H bond activation reactions in N-heterocyclic carbene complexes of ruthenium

Thermolysis of Ru(PPh3)3(CO)H2 with the N-heterocyclic carbene bis(1,3-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene) (IMes) results in C-C activation of an Ar-CH3 bond in one of the mesityl rings of the carbene ligand. Upon addition of IMes to Ru(PPh3)3(CO)H2 at room temperature in the presence of an alkene, C-H bond activation is observed instead. The thermodynamics of these C-C and C-H cleavage reactions have been probed using density functional theory.     

Photoelimination reactions of N-heteroaromatic compounds

N-Heteroaromatic compounds substituted with a side chain next to the nitrogen and bearing a hydrogen gamma to the ring, undergo a photoelimination reaction to yield the methyl-substituted heterocycle and an alkene (if the gamma hydrogen is on a side chain carbon) or an aldehyde (if the gamma hydrogen is on a side chain oxygen). The reaction has been shown to occur with substituted isoquinolines, plienanthridines, pyridines and pyrazines.     

Formation of six- versus five-membered cyclic sulfones by C-H insertion

Selectivity of six- versus five- membered ring formation in C-H insertion on alkylsulfonyl diazoacetates is sensitive to the substrate structure and catalyst used.     

Organocatalytic asymmetric direct alkylation of alpha-diazoester via C-H bond cleavage

A new variant of phosphoric acid-catalyzed C-C bond forming reaction, direct alkylation of alpha-diazoester, via C-H bond cleavage is presented. The resulting products, beta-amino-alpha-diazoesters, are highly functionalized and useful synthetic precursors for various types of beta-amino acids.     

Cobalt-catalyzed arylation of azole heteroarenes via direct C-H bond functionalization

[reaction: see text] We herein report a new cobalt-catalyzed method for arylation of azole heteroarenes, including thiazole, oxazole, imidazole, benzothiazole, benzoxazole, and benzimidazole. The direct arylation of thiazole and oxazole was achieved both with iodo- and bromoarenes as the aryl donors in the presence of cobalt catalyst [Co(OAc)(2)/IMes] and cesium carbonate, while imidazole required the use of zinc oxide as the base. A complete reversal of arylation from C-5 to C-2 was accomplished using the bimetallic Co/Cu/IMes system. A direct comparison of the new cobalt method and the previously developed palladium protocol revealed significant differences, in terms of both chemical yield and selectivity.     

Synthesis of nitroxyl radical by direct nucleophilic functionalization of a C-H bond in the azadiene systems

Cyclic dinitrones underwent nucleophilic substitution of the hydrogen atom in the reaction with a paramagnetic carbanion, the lithium derivative of 4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-1-oxyl 3-oxide, to give polyfunctional nitronyl nitroxyls.     

C-H stretching frequencies and C-H bond strengths of CH3X compounds

The influence of the X-group in CH₃X type molecules on the frequency of the C-H symmetrical stretching vibration has been investigated by means of normal coordinate analysis and CNDO/2 partial force constant and localized orbital calculations. The frequency of the C—H symmetrical stretching vibration was found to be dependent on the HCH angle α and the C—H symmetrical stretching force constant F_CH. By studying the partial force constants for a number of CH₃X type molecules a distinct relation between F_CH and the C—H bond length could be shown. With the help of localized orbital calculations a relation was found between the C—H bond length and the percentage ionic character of the C—H bond.     

Rhenium-catalyzed insertion of terminal acetylenes into a C-H bond of active methylene compounds

[reaction: see text] A rhenium complex, [ReBr(CO)(3)(thf)](2), catalyzed the intermolecular reactions of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds with terminal acetylenes and gave the corresponding alkenyl derivatives in excellent yields. These reactions could apply to an intramolecular version and gave the corresponding cyclic compounds quantitatively.