Room-Temperature Copper-Catalyzed Oxidation of Electron-Deficient Arenes and Heteroarenes Using Air

Facile Synthesis of 2-Methylenebenzothiazoles from Benzothiazole Salts and 4-Hydroxycoumarins by Ball Milling

A simple and practical method for the synthesis of 2-methylenebenzothiazoles via the coupling of a benzothiazole salts and 4-hydroxycoumarins have been described herein. The reaction showed a good substrate range and functional compatibility under mechanochemical conditions, and proceeded without catalysts or solvents. The 2-methylenebenzothiazoles products were achieved via the formation of a C=C double bond and exhibited strong luminescence and typical aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties, indicating their potential for use as fluorescent materials.

Copper-catalyzed aromatic C-H alkoxylation with alcohols under aerobic conditions

An efficient protocol for copper-catalyzed aromatic C-H alkoxylation with alcohols has been developed under aerobic conditions. The protocol provides a complementary method to couple arenes and alcohols to furnish aromatic ethers. The advantages of this method are the employment of a cheap Cu(OAc)₂ catalyst, oxygen as the terminal oxidant and alcohol as both an alkoxy reagent and a solvent. Notably, the catalytic amount of benzoic acid plays a significant role in this transformation.

Coordination strategy-induced selective C–H amination of 8-aminoquinolines

Using coordination-strategy, we realized a selective C–H amination of 8-aminoquinolins on the C5 position employing azoles as amines sources.

Chloroacetate-promoted selective oxidation of heterobenzylic methylenes under copper catalysis

The efficient selective oxidation and functionalization of C-H bonds with molecular oxygen and a copper catalyst to prepare the corresponding ketones was achieved with ethyl chloroacetate as a promoter. In this transformation, various substituted N-heterocyclic compounds were well tolerated. Preliminary mechanistic investigations indicated that organic radical species were involved in the overall process. The N-heterocyclic compounds and ethyl chloroacetate work synergistically to activate C-H bonds in the methylene group, which results in the easy generation of free radical intermediates, thus leading to the corresponding ketones in good yields.

Regioselective air oxidation of sulfides to O,S-acetals in a bubble column

In this paper the use of a bubble column for a metal-free, selective oxidation of α-alkylthio-imines to O,S-acetals is presented. During the synthesis, which is straightforward to perform, the sulfides are oxidized to α-alkoxy- or, respectively, α-hydroxysulfide by adding activated carbon in the presence of atmospheric oxygen only. We show that the use of the bubble column, which is unusual on laboratory scale, improves the efficiency of the reaction in comparison to common laboratory techniques. As atmospheric oxygen alone is used for oxidation, this method is cost saving, environmentally friendly, and safe.