Activation of “Inert” Alkenyl/Aryl CO Bond and Its Application in Cross-Coupling Reactions

Mechanisms and origins of switchable chemoselectivity of Ni-catalyzed C(aryl)-O and C(acyl)-O activation of aryl esters with phosphine ligands

Many experiments have shown that nickel with monodentate phosphine ligands favors the C(aryl)-O activation over the C(acyl)-O activation for aryl esters. However, Itami and co-workers recently discovered that nickel with bidentate phosphine ligands can selectively activate the C(acyl)-O bond of aryl esters of aromatic carboxylic acids. The chemoselectivity with bidentate phosphine ligands can be switched back to C(aryl)-O activation when aryl pivalates are employed. To understand the mechanisms and origins of this switchable chemoselectivity, density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been conducted. For aryl esters, nickel with bidentate phosphine ligands cleaves C(acyl)-O and C(aryl)-O bonds via three-centered transition states. The C(acyl)-O activation is more favorable due to the lower bond dissociation energy (BDE) of C(acyl)-O bond, which translates into a lower transition-state distortion energy. However, when monodentate phosphine ligands are used, a vacant coordination site on nickel creates an extra Ni-O bond in the five-centered C(aryl)-O cleavage transition state. The additional interaction energy between the catalyst and substrate makes C(aryl)-O activation favorable. In the case of aryl pivalates, nickel with bidentate phosphine ligands still favors the C(acyl)-O activation over the C(aryl)-O activation at the cleavage step. However, the subsequent decarbonylation generates a very unstable tBu-Ni(II) intermediate, and this unfavorable step greatly increases the overall barrier for generating the C(acyl)-O activation products. Instead, the subsequent C-H activation of azoles and C-C coupling in the C(aryl)-O activation pathway are much easier, leading to the observed C(aryl)-O activation products.

Efficient imidation of C(sp3)–H bonds adjacent to oxygen atoms of aryl ethers under metal-free conditions

A metal-free intermolecular oxidative C–N formation reaction of aryl ethers with saccharins was realized for the first time.

Palladium-catalyzed reductive cleavage of tosylated arenes using isopropanol as the mild reducing agent

The reduction (deuteration) of oxygenated arenes can be achieved by Pd/CM-phos catalyst system via a tosylation pathway.

Metal-catalyzed activation of ethers via C–O bond cleavage: a new strategy for molecular diversity

This review highlights the prospective impact of simple ethers as aryl halide surrogates in the cross-coupling arena via C–O bond-activation.

Transition-metal-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions: a remarkable advance from palladium to nickel catalysts

In the transition-metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions, the use of the first row transition metals as catalysts is much more appealing than the precious metals owing to the apparent advantages such as cheapness and earth abundance. Within the last two decades, particularly the last five years, explosive interests have been focused on the nickel-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura reactions. This has greatly advanced the chemistry of transition-metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions. Most notably, a broad range of aryl electrophiles such as phenols, aryl ethers, esters, carbonates, carbamates, sulfamates, phosphates, phosphoramides, phosphonium salts, and fluorides, as well as various alkyl electrophiles, which are conventionally challenging, by applying palladium catalysts can now be coupled efficiently with boron reagents in the presence of nickel catalysts. In this review, we would like to summarize the progress in this reaction.

Pd(II)-catalyzed C(sp2)-H hydroxylation with R2(O)P-coordinating group

A novel R2(O)P-directed Pd(II)-catalyzed C-H hydroxylation to synthesize various substituted 2'-phosphorylbiphenyl-2-ol compounds is described. Notably, the reaction operates under mild conditions and shows good functional group tolerance, high selectivity, and yield.

Isolation, structure, and reactivity of an arylnickel(II) pivalate complex in catalytic C-H/C-O biaryl coupling

We describe mechanistic studies of a C-H/C-O biaryl coupling of 1,3-azoles and aryl pivalates catalyzed by Ni(cod)2/dcype. This study not only supports a catalytic cycle consisting of C-O oxidative addition, C-H nickelation, and reductive elimination but also provides insight into the dramatic ligand effect in C-H/C-O coupling. We have achieved the first synthesis, isolation and structure elucidation of an arylnickel(II) pivalate, which is an intermediate in the catalytic cycle after oxidative addition of a C-O bond. Furthermore, kinetic studies and kinetic isotope effect investigations reveal that the C-H nickelation is the turnover-limiting step in the catalytic cycle.

Palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of aryl sulfamates with arylboronic acids

Readily available NHC-Pd(II)-Mp complexes 2 showed efficient catalytic activity toward the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of aryl sulfamates with arylboronic acids or potassium phenyltrifluoroborate, giving the expected coupling products in good to high yields. It should be noted that this is the first example so far of the phosphine-free, NHC-Pd(II) complexes catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of aryl sulfamates with arylboronic acids.

Nickel-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura couplings in green solvents

The nickel-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of aryl halides and phenol-derived substrates with aryl boronic acids using green solvents, such as 2-Me-THF and tert-amyl alcohol, is reported. This methodology employs the commercially available and air-stable precatalyst, NiCl2(PCy3)2, and gives biaryl products in synthetically useful to excellent yields. Using this protocol, bis(heterocyclic) frameworks can be assembled efficiently.

Ortho- and para-selective ruthenium-catalyzed C(sp2)-H oxygenations of phenol derivatives

Versatile ruthenium catalysts allowed for efficient direct oxygenations of aryl carbamates under remarkably mild reaction conditions. In addition to chelation-assisted C-H activation, the optimized ruthenium catalyst proved amenable to para-selective hydroxylations of anisoles without Lewis basic directing groups.

Nickel-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of heteroaryl ethers with arylboronic acids

Nickel-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of heteroaryl ethers with arylboronic acids was described. Selective activation of the phenol C-O bonds was achieved by converting them into the corresponding aryl 2,4-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine-6-yl ethers, in which aryl C-O bond could be selectively cleaved with inexpensive, air-stable NiCl2(dppf) as a catalyst. Coupling of these readily accessible heteroaryl ethers proved tolerant of extensive functional groups.

Combined experimental and theoretical study on the reductive cleavage of inert C-O bonds with silanes: ruling out a classical Ni(0)/Ni(II) catalytic couple and evidence for Ni(I) intermediates

A mechanistic and computational study on the reductive cleavage of C-OMe bonds catalyzed by Ni(COD)(2)/PCy(3) with silanes as reducing agents is reported herein. Specifically, we demonstrate that the mechanism for this transformation does not proceed via oxidative addition of the Ni(0) precatalyst into the C-OMe bond. In the absence of an external reducing agent, the in-situ-generated oxidative addition complexes rapidly undergo β-hydride elimination at room temperature, ultimately leading to either Ni(0)-carbonyl- or Ni(0)-aldehyde-bound complexes. Characterization of these complexes by X-ray crystallography unambiguously suggested a different mechanistic scenario when silanes are present in the reaction media. Isotopic-labeling experiments, kinetic isotope effects, and computational studies clearly reinforced this perception. Additionally, we also found that water has a deleterious effect by deactivating the Ni catalyst via formation of a new Ni-bridged hydroxo species that was characterized by X-ray crystallography. The order in each component was determined by plotting the initial rates of the C-OMe bond cleavage at varying concentrations. These data together with the in-situ-monitoring experiments by (1)H NMR, EPR, IR spectroscopy, and theoretical calculations provided a mechanistic picture that involves Ni(I) as the key reaction intermediates, which are generated via comproportionation of initially formed Ni(II) species. This study strongly supports that a classical Ni(0)/Ni(II) for C-OMe bond cleavage is not operating, thus opening up new perspectives to be implemented in other related C-O bond-cleavage reactions.

Gold-catalyzed direct arylation

Biaryls (two directly connected aromatic rings, Ar(1)-Ar(2)) are common motifs in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and organic materials. Current methods for establishing the Ar(1)-Ar(2) bond are dominated by the cross-coupling of aryl halides (Ar(1)-X) with aryl metallics (Ar(2)-M). We report that, in the presence of 1 to 2 mole percent of a gold catalyst and a mild oxidant, a wide range of arenes (Ar(1)-H) undergo site-selective arylation by arylsilanes (Ar(2)-SiMe(3)) to generate biaryls (Ar(1)-Ar(2)), with little or no homocoupling (Ar(1)-Ar(1)/Ar(2)-Ar(2)). Catalysis proceeds at room temperature and tolerates a broad range of functional groups, including those incompatible with cross-coupling. These features expedite biaryl preparation, as demonstrated by synthesis of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory diflunisal.

Nickel-catalyzed amination of aryl sulfamates and carbamates using an air-stable precatalyst

A facile nickel-catalyzed method to achieve the amination of synthetically useful aryl sulfamates and carbamates is reported. Contrary to most Ni-catalyzed amination reactions, this user-friendly approach relies on an air-stable Ni(II) precatalyst, which, when employed with a mild reducing agent, efficiently delivers aminated products in good to excellent yields. The scope of the method is broad with respect to both coupling partners and includes heterocyclic substrates.