Cobalt-catalyzed C–N,C–O,C–S bond formation: synthesis of heterocycles

In recent decades, a large number of reports related to the synthesis of N-, O- and S-containing heterocycles have appeared owing to a wide variety of their biological activity. Traditional approaches require expensive or highly specialized equipment or would be of limited use to the synthetic organic chemist due to their highly inconvenient approaches. New strategies have been developed for the preparation of heterocycles in the last decades. Metal and non-metal catalysts are used in organic reactions with high activity. These synthetic strategies are becoming important and highly rewarding protocols in organic synthesis. In this review article, the synthesis of heterocycles is presented with the application of cobalt metal as a catalyst. It describes the formation of different sized heterocyclic rings containing different heteroatoms.

     

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.     

Cobalt-catalyzed chemoselective insertion of alkene into the ortho C-H bond of benzamide

Insertion of 1-alkene, 2-alkene, and styrene into the ortho C-H bond of benzamide in the presence of an inexpensive cobalt catalyst, DMPU as a crucial ligand, and cyclohexylmagnesium chloride proceeds smoothly at 25 °C to selectively give the ortho-alkylated product. Notable features of this reaction include the structural variety of the alkene and the amide substrate and the tolerance of functional groups such as halide, olefin, ester, and amide groups.     

A general method for the formation of aryl-sulfur bonds using copper(I) catalysts

[reaction: see text] We report a mild, palladium-free synthetic protocol for the cross-coupling reaction of aryl iodides and thiols using 10 mol % CuI and 10 mol % neocuproine, with NaOt-Bu as the base, in toluene at 110 degrees C. Using this protocol, we have shown that a variety of aryl sulfides can be synthesized in excellent yields from readily available iodides and thiols.     

Cobalt-catalyzed, room-temperature addition of aromatic imines to alkynes via directed C-H bond activation

A quaternary catalytic system consisting of a cobalt salt, a triarylphosphine ligand, a Grignard reagent, and pyridine has been developed for chelation-assisted C-H bond activation of an aromatic imine, followed by insertion of an unactivated internal alkyne that occurs at ambient temperature. The reaction not only tolerates potentially senstitive functional groups (e.g., Cl, Br, CN, and tertiary amide), but also displays a unique regioselectivity. Thus, the presence of substituents such as methoxy, halogen, and cyano groups at the meta-position of the imino group led to selective C-C bond formation at the more sterically hindered ortho positions. Under acidic conditions, the hydroarylation products of dialkyl- and alkylarylacetylenes underwent cyclization to afford benzofulvene derivatives, while those of diarylacetylenes afforded the corresponding ketones in moderate to good yields. A mechanistic investigation into the reaction with the aid of deuterium-labeling experiments and kinetic analysis has indicated that oxidative addition of the ortho C-H bond is the rate-limiting step of the reaction. The kinetic analysis has also shed light on the complexity of the quaternary catalytic system.     

三价钴催化下N-S键辅助的非氧化条件下经碳氢活化合成异喹啉

异喹啉是非常重要的杂环化合物,广泛应用于有机合成中,也是构成药物和材料分子的核心骨架。很多异喹啉类的生物碱都由异喹啉基本骨架构成,它们都有一定药理活性和生物活性,包括抗真菌、抗癌、抗心律失常、阵痛麻醉和降血压等功效。迄今已知的含异喹啉骨架的生物碱超过1000种,是生物碱中最多的一类。传统的合成异喹啉的方法需要官能化的原料和强酸,反应条件比较苛刻,合成步骤繁琐。例如Larock课题组利用钯催化将邻溴官能化的亚胺与炔烃环化偶联,合成了一系列异喹啉化合物。而过渡金属催化合成异喹啉是一种能够有效合成多种取代基异喹啉的方法。在过去的几十年中,通过碳氢活化策略合成杂环化合物的方法得到迅猛发展,从而使得大量的芳基化合物都能作为反应的起始原料。尤其是铑、铱、钯、钌等过渡金属都能催化芳烃的碳氢活化,从而合成异喹啉化合物。 Fagnou课题组最早报道了氧化条件下利用三价铑催化剂经碳氢键活化与炔烃偶联合成异喹啉的方法。随后,众多研究组利用氧化型导向基策略在无外加氧化剂条件下高效、高选择性地合成了异喹啉。除了利用三价铑催化剂之外,利用二价钌催化剂通过碳氢活化策略也能实现类似反应。但是,这些反应体系都必须使用铑和钌等贵金属催化剂,极大地限制了该合成异喹啉方法的应用前景。近年来,数个研究组将地球上储量丰富、便宜有效的钴络合物作为催化剂应用到芳烃的碳氢键活化反应中,在简单的反应条件下合成了各种杂环化合物。对于一些反应,三价钴催化与三价铑催化能形成互补。最近, Kanai, Ackermann和Sundararaju几乎同时报道了三价钴催化肟谜的碳氢键活化,并在无外加氧化剂条件下实现了其与炔烃的偶联反应,高效地合成了异喹啉,在该类反应中以氮–氧键断裂作为内部氧化剂。但是在钴催化条件下氧化性的氮–硫键作为内部氧化剂辅助碳氢键活化的反应尚无报道。本课题组最近报道了芳基酮的N-亚磺酰亚胺与烯烃和胺化试剂的偶联反应,经N–S键断裂,高效合成了喹唑啉。本文利用三价钴催化剂在无外加氧化剂条件下实现了芳基酮N-亚磺酰亚胺与炔烃的偶联,反应经历了碳氢键活化和氮硫键断裂得到异喹啉。此反应对端炔和内炔底物均适用。为了初步了解反应机理,我们利用分子内竞争的方法进行了动力学同位素效应测定,结果表明碳氢键断裂过程可能是反应的决速步骤。结合文献结果,提出了可能的反应机理。     

Hydrogen bond network formation

The signs of the dynamic dichroism of the NH stretch and the amide I bands in nylons were found to be counterintuitive. Experiments show that polymer chains tend to align in the direction of an applied tensile strain. The CH stretching bands in nylons exhibit the expected negative dynamic dichroism indicating chain alignment in the strain direction. The ΔA′ peaks for the NH and amide I bands are positive. The ΔA′ peak for the NH band is also unusual in that it has a derivative shape. This can be explained by band shifts brought about by anisotropic changes in the intermolecular spacing in the glassy polymer. Above T_g the derivative shape disappears but the ΔA′ peak for both the NH and amide I absorption remain positive. We postulate that the positive ΔA′ peaks of the NH and amide I bands result from a hydrogen bonding network where stress is transmitted through a network consisting of covalent chains connected by hydrogen bonds.     

Cobalt-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions

In the last few years, we and other groups have demonstrated that economical cobalt salts can advantageously replace expensive and toxic catalysts for cross coupling reactions. These cobalt-catalyzed reactions have considerably extended the range of functionalized compounds. A variety of sensitive functional groups can be tolerated in these coupling reactions and various organic compounds RX could be involved (R = alkyl, alkynyl, aryl, allyl and X = halides: F, Cl, Br, I and even triflates). Here, we describe our contributions in this area for the preparation of a broad range of functionalized compounds from organometallic species or by direct cross-coupling.     

Cobalt-catalyzed benzyl-alkynyl coupling

Benzylic halides coupled with 1-alkynylmagnesium halides in the presence of a catalytic amount of Co(acac)₃ to provide 1-aryl-2-alkynes in moderate to good yield.     

Cobalt-catalyzed dimerization of alkenes

In the presence of CoX₂(PPh₃)₂/3 PPh₃ and zinc metal conjugated alkenes (CH₂CHCOOR, CH₂CHCN, CH₂CHSO₂Ph and CH₂CHCONEt₂) undergo reductive tail-to-tail dimerization to yield the corresponding saturated linear products. Under similar reaction conditions, vinylarenes (ArCHCH₂) give stereoselective head-to-tail dimerization products, trans-1,3-diarylbut-1-ene, in good to excellent yields.     

Cobalt-catalyzed bisperoxidation of styrenes

A cobalt-catalyzed peroxidation of styrenes with tert-butyl hydroperoxide gives 1-aryl-1,2-bis(tert-butylperoxy)ethanes in up to 53% yields.     

Measuring site-specific cluster-surface bond formation

Recent advances in dynamic force microscopy show that it is possible to measure the forces between atomically sharp tips and particular atomic positions on surfaces as a function of distance. However, on most ionic surfaces, the positive and negative ions can so far not be distinguished. In this paper, we use the CaF2(111) surface, where atomic resolution force microscopy has allowed identification of the positions of the Ca2+ and F- ions in the obtained images, to demonstrate that short-range interaction forces can be measured selectively above chemically identified surface sites. Combining experimental and theoretical results allows a quantification of the strength and distance dependence of the interaction of a tip-terminating cluster with particular surface ions and reveals details of cluster and surface relaxation. Further development of this approach will provide new insight into mechanisms of chemical bond formation between clusters, cluster deposition at surfaces, processes in adhesion and tribology, and single atom manipulation with the force microscope.     

Iron catalyzed CN bond formation

Diversely functionalized nitrogen-containing heteroaromatic building blocks, fine chemicals and active pharmaceutical or agrochemical ingredients are conveniently prepared via CN bond formation as the key step. Since beginning of the last decade, there has been a flurry of intense research in forging CN bonds using iron catalysts due to their low cost, high natural abundance and non-toxic nature. The present review offers an overview of CN bond forming reactions involving aryl, allyl, propargyl and unactivated alkyl electrophilic substrates with nitrogen nucleophiles via the regular cross coupling reactions catalyzed by iron. In the miscellaneous section, a set of novel transformations facilitated by iron are included as well.     

Enantioselection in peptide bond formation

Selectivity in abiotic condensations of amino acids remains controversial and stereochemically little explored. We find that competitive activated couplings of N-acyl derivatives of glycine, alanine, valine, proline and phenylalanine with binary, ternary and quaternary mixtures of amides and esters of the same group of amino acids show little selectivity among the reactants, except with respect to configuration, where a consistent and significant preference for heterochiral outcomes, mostly > 80%, is observed. One possible explanation of this selectivity predicts a predisposition to homochiral coupling under conditions that would require the two carboxyl functions to be co-facial in the activated complex.     

Cobalt-catalyzed multisubstituted allylation of the chelation-assisted C–H bond of (hetero)arenes with cyclopropenes

Cyclopropenes are highly strained three-membered carbocycles, which offer unique reactivity in organic synthesis. Herein, Cp*Co^III-catalyzed ring-opening isomerization of cyclopropenes to cobalt vinylcarbene has been utilized for the synthesis of multisubstituted allylarenes via directing group-assisted functionalization of C–H bonds of arenes and heteroarenes. Employing this methodology, various substituents can be introduced at all three carbons of the allyl moiety with high selectivity. The important highlights are excellent functional group tolerance, multisubstituted allylation, high selectivity, gram scale synthesis, removable directing group, and synthesis of cyclopenta[b]indoles. In addition, a potential cobaltocycle intermediate was identified and a plausible mechanism is also proposed.

Cp*Co^III-catalyzed ring-opening isomerization of cyclopropenes to cobalt vinylcarbene has been utilized for the synthesis of multisubstituted allylarenes via directing group-assisted functionalization of C–H bonds of arenes and heteroarenes.     

Solvent effects on hydrogen bond formation

Enthalpies of solution have been used to calculate transfer enthalpies for phenol, pyridine, and DMSO between the solvent cyclohexane and the solvents CCl₄, benzene, and CHCl₃. By use of model compounds, enthalpies due to interactions with phenol, pyridine, and DMSO have been determined. These enthalpies are used to calculate the effect of solvation relative to cyclohexane on hydrogen bonded complexes in CCl₄ and benzene solvents. Correlations with enthalpies due to interactions and frequency shifts for the hydroxyl stretch in these solvents have also been made.     

Fluorescent detection of carbon-carbon bond formation

We have developed a new spectroscopic system for detecting carbon-carbon bond formation by fluorescence to enhance high-throughput catalyst screening and rapid characterization of catalysts on a small scale. Fluorogenic substrates composed of a fluorophore possessing an amino group are readily prepared as amides of alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds and generally exhibit low fluorescence, while Michael or Diels-Alder reactions of these fluorogenic substrates provide products of significantly increased fluorescence. The product's fluorescence is approximately 20- to 100-fold higher than that of the substrate. The assay system was validated by screening potential catalysts of the Michael reaction and in solvent optimization experiments. The covalent combination of fluorophores possessing an amino group with alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds should provide a diverse range of fluorogenic substrates that may be used to rapidly screen catalysts and to optimize reaction conditions.     

Protein nanopatterns by oxime bond formation

Patterning proteins on the nanoscale is important for applications in biology and medicine. As feature sizes are reduced, it is critical that immobilization strategies provide site-specific attachment of the biomolecules. In this study, oxime chemistry was exploited to conjugate proteins onto nanometer-sized features. Poly(Boc-aminooxy tetra(ethylene glycol) methacrylate) was synthesized by free radical polymerization. The polymer was patterned onto silicon wafers using an electron beam writer. Trifluoroacetic acid removal of the Boc groups provided the desired aminooxy functionality. In this manner, patterns of concentric squares and contiguous bowtie shapes were fabricated with 150-170-nm wide features. Ubiquitin modified at the N-terminus with an α-ketoamide group and N(ε)-levulinyl lysine-modified bovine serum albumin were subsequently conjugated to the polymer nanopatterns. Protein immobilization was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy. Control studies on protected surfaces and using proteins presaturated with O-methoxyamine indicated that attachment occurred via oxime bond formation.