Facile Phenylphosphinidene Transfer Reactions from Carbene–Phosphinidene Zinc Complexes

Phosphinidenes [R-P] are convenient P₁ building blocks for the synthesis of a plethora of organophosphorus compounds. Thus far, transition-metal-complexed phosphinidenes have been used for their singlet ground-state reactivity to promote selective addition and insertion reactions. One disadvantage of this approach is that after transfer of the P₁ moiety to the substrate, a challenging demetallation step is required to provide the free phosphine. We report a simple method that enables the Lewis acid promoted transfer of phenylphosphinidene, [PhP], from NHC=PPh adducts (NHC=N-heterocyclic carbene) to various substrates to produce directly uncoordinated phosphorus heterocycles that are difficult to obtain otherwise.     

Cp2ZrCl2‐catalyzed synthesis of 2‐substituted quinozolin‐4(3H)‐ones

Zirconocene dichloride (Cp₂ZrCl₂) in the presence of DMF was found to be a highly efficient catalyst for the synthesis of structurally diverse 2‐substituted quinozolin‐4(3H)‐ones by reaction of anthranilimide with a wide range of aryl aldehydes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.