Palladium-catalyzed redox cascade for direct β-arylation of ketones

Herein we report a full article about the detailed design and development of two palladium-catalyzed redox cascade methods that enable direct β-arylation of ketones. Palladium-catalyzed ketone dehydrogenation, aryl-X bond activation and conjugate addition were merged into a redox-neutral catalytic cycle. Non-metal-based aryl electrophiles were used as both the oxidant and the aryl source. The β-arylation with aryl iodides was achieved site-selectively with Pd(TFA)₂/P(i-Pr)₃ as the precatalyst and AgTFA as the iodide scavenger. Both cyclic and linear ketones can react to give β-aryl ketones with excellent functional group tolerance. The β-arylation with diaryliodonium salts was realized without stoichiometric heavy metal additives, and proved to be redox-neutral. A wider substrate scope regarding aryl groups and ketones was obtained for the arylation with diaryliodonium salts, and the possible involvement of palladium nanoparticles as the active catalyst was examined and discussed.     

Palladium-catalyzed arylation of α,β-unsaturated Weinreb amides

Palladium-catalyzed arylation of α,β-unsaturated Weinreb amides has been examined to obtain β-aryl-α,β-unsaturated Weinreb amides. The chelation between the palladium center of an alkylpalladium intermediate and Weinreb amide moiety facilitated both coordination and insertion steps.     

KMnO4-mediated direct C2-selective C−H arylation of quinoline N-oxides with aromatic hydrazines

An efficient protocol for the synthesis of 2-arylquinoline N-oxides has been developed via KMnO₄-mediated cross-coupling reaction of quinoline N-oxides with aromatic hydrazines in moderated to good yields. The reactions proceeded efficiently over a broad range of substrates with excellent regioselectivity and functional group tolerance.     

Ru-catalyzed β-selective and enantioselective addition of amines to styrenes initiated by direct arene-exchange

A catalytic β-selective addition of amines to styrenes proceeded in the presence of cationic Ru complexes combined with diphosphine ligands. In the reaction of α-methylstyrene, an enantioselective addition was achieved by using xylylBINAP.     

An alternative synthesis of β-pyrrolic acetylene-substituted porphyrins

A modified Horner-Emmons condensation reaction has been employed in the synthesis of acetylene-substituted porphyrins at the β-pyrrolic position. This technique was shown to have many advantages over the typically employed Sonogashira coupling method, including negating the requirement for a brominated porphyrin starting material. The electronic spectra of 2-(4′-carboxyphenyl)ethynyl-5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrinato zinc(II) showed a red shift compared to the double bond equivalent, 4-(trans-2′-(2″-(5″,10″,15″,20″-tetraphenylporphyrinato zinc(II)yl))ethen-1′-yl)-1-benzoic acid. Comparison of the X-ray structures of 2-((4′-formyl)phenyl)ethynyl-5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrinato zinc(II) and its analogue 4-(trans-2′-(2″-(5″,10″,15″,20″-tetraphenylporphyrinato copper(II)yl))ethen-1′-yl)-1-benzaldehyde showed an unexpected decrease in planarity in the analogue with the triple bond as opposed to that with the double bond.     

Recent advances in electrochemical meso- and β-functionalization of porphyrins and electrografting of diazonium porphyrins

Recent studies on electrochemical meso- and β-functionalization of porphyrins and electrografting of diazonium porphyrin are presented. First, the electrochemical oxidative C–C coupling between porphyrins will be presented, followed by the intermolecular and intramolecular meso- and β-substitutions of porphyrins. Then, the latest results on diazonium porphyrin electrografting will be reviewed.     

Synthesis of aryl substituted quinones as β-secretase inhibitors: Ligand-free direct arylation of quinones with aryl halides

The simple ligand-free direct arylation of quinones with aryl halides applying Pd(OAc)₂ as a catalyst in accordance with Heck reaction was studied. This reaction provided a simple and efficient synthetic approach to efficient inhibitors of β-secretase aryl-substituted quinones.     

Palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative arylation of potassium cyanoacetate: synthesis of α-diaryl nitriles from aryl halides

A palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative coupling of potassium cyanoacetate with aryl bromides and chlorides is described. The reaction conditions feature the absence of additional strong inorganic bases and provide ester functional group tolerance. With Pd(dba)(2) and XPhos ligand as the catalyst system, α-diaryl nitriles can be obtained in good yields.     

Palladium-catalyzed direct intramolecular double α-C–H arylation of 1,5-diketone: a strategy for synthesis of Tröger’s base analogues

9-Aryl-2,3:6,7-dibenzobicyclo[3.3.1]nona-2,6-diene-4,8-diones were straightforwardly prepared via a tandem reaction of easily available ortho-chloroacetophenone and ortho-chlorochalcone catalyzed by PdCl₂(PCy₃)₂.     

Synthesis of α-indanones via intramolecular direct arylation with cyclopropanol-derived homoenolates

A palladium-catalysed, tandem cyclopropanol rearrangement and direct arylation approach for the synthesis of 1-indanones is reported. The reaction is generally high yielding, uses oxygen as the terminal oxidant and tolerates a range of functional groups on the aryl ring.     

Triphyrin catalyzed direct C–H arylation of benzene with aryl halides

Transition-metal free direct C–H arylation of benzene with aryl halides was achieved by meso-aryl-substituted [14]triphyrins(2.1.1) catalysts in an air atmosphere. Various aryl halides underwent successful direct C–H arylation of benzene to give moderate to high yields of biaryls. A radical mechanism is proposed for this triphyrin catalyzed C–H arylation reaction.     

Silver mediated direct C–H arylation of 3-bromoisothiazole-5-carbonitrile

Palladium catalyzed direct C–H arylation of 3-bromoisothiazole-5-carbonitrile with aryl/hetaryl iodides in the presence of AgF gave 13 4-aryl/hetaryl-3-bromoisothiazole-5-carbonitriles. The scope of this arylation was investigated and explanations for the limitations proposed. 3-Bromoisothiazole-5-carboxamide was isolated as a side-product, and its formation was attributed to Ag⁺-catalyzed hydration of the C-5 nitrile. The analogous phenylation of 3-chloroisothiazole-5-carbonitrile and 3-bromoisothiazole-4-carboxamide gave 3-chloro-4-phenylisothiazole-5-carbonitrile and 3-bromo-5-phenylisothiazole-4-carboxamide in 83 and 64% yields, respectively.     

Synthesis of β-pyrrolic-modified porphyrins and their incorporation into DNA

A synthetic methodology for the synthesis of various β-pyrrolic-functionalised porphyrins and their covalent attachment to 2'-deoxyuridine and DNA is described. Palladium(0)-catalysed Sonogashira and copper(I)-catalysed Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions were used to insert porphyrins into the structure of 2'-deoxyuridine and DNA. Insertion of a porphyrin into the middle of single-stranded CT oligonucleotides possessing a 5'-terminal run of four cytosines was shown to trigger the formation of pH- and temperature-dependent i-motif structures. Porphyrin insertion also led to the aggregation of single-stranded purine-pyrimidine sequences, which could be dissociated by heating at 90 °C for 5 min. Parallel triplexes and anti-parallel duplexes were formed in the presence of the appropriate complementary strand(s). Depending on the modification, porphyrins were placed in the major and minor grooves of duplexes and were used as bulged intercalating insertions in duplexes and triplexes. In general, the thermal stabilisation of parallel triplexes possessing porphyrin-modified triplex-forming oligonucleotide (TFO) strands was observed, whereas anti-parallel duplexes were destabilised. These results are compared and discussed on the basis of the results of molecular modelling calculations.     

Palladium-catalyzed dehydrogenative β'-functionalization of β-keto esters with indoles at room temperature

The dehydrogenative β'-functionalization of α-substituted β-keto esters with indoles proceeds with high regioselectivities (C3-selective for the indole partner and β'-selective for the β-keto ester) and good yields under mild palladium catalysis at room temperature with a variety of oxidants. Two possible mechanisms involving either late or early involvement of indole are presented.     

Ligand-promoted C3-selective arylation of pyridines with Pd catalysts: gram-scale synthesis of (±)-preclamol

The first example of Pd-catalyzed, C3-selective arylation of unprotected pyridines has been developed by employing a catalytic system consisting of Pd(OAc)(2) and 1,10-phenanthroline. This protocol provides an expeditious route to an important class of 3-arylpyridines and 3-arylpiperidines frequently found in bioactive compounds. A brief synthesis of the drug molecule (±)-preclamol is also reported.     

Palladium-catalyzed amino group arylation of 1,3-disubstituted 1H-pyrazol-5-amine based on Buchwald–Hartwig reaction

Chemistry of Heterocyclic Compounds - An efficient Pd-catalyzed C–N bond formation for the synthesis of different pyrazole derivatives using XPhos as a ligand and KOH as a base is presented....     

Spectroscopic and computational study of β-ethynylphenylene substituted zinc and free-base porphyrins

A series of tetraphenylporphyrins appended at the β-pyrrolic position with an ethynylphenylene- or ethynylpyridine-substituent have been subjected to spectroscopic and density functional theory (DFT) analyses. The mean absolute deviation between corresponding experimental and DFT-derived vibrational spectra is up to 10.2 cm(-1), suggesting that the DFT B3LYP/6-31G(d) method provides an accurate model of the β-substituted porphyrin systems. The configuration interactions that give rise to prominent electronic absorptions have been calculated using time-dependant DFT (TD-DFT) and have been rationalized with reference to the energy and topology of DFT calculated molecular orbitals. As the electron withdrawing capacity of the β-substituent increases the LUMO orbital gains appreciable amplitude over the substituent moiety and is stabilised. This represents a departure from the assumptions underpinning the Gouterman four-orbital model, resulting in atypical electronic absorption spectra. This phenomenon is also manifested in the enhancement patterns of the resonance Raman spectra insofar as B-band excitation engenders an enhancement of substituent based modes. These observations demonstrate that the β-substituent exerts an appreciable electronic influence on the porphyrin π-electron system and provides a means of introducing charge-transfer character to prominent electronic transitions.