A general and efficient palladium-catalyzed alkoxycarbonylation of phenols to form esters through in situ formed aryl nonaflates

Palladium-Catalyzed Cross-Couplings by C-O Bond Activation

Although palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of aryl halides and reactive pseudohalides has revolutionized the way organic molecules are constructed today across various fields of chemistry, comparatively less progress has been made in the palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of less reactive C-O electrophiles. This is despite the fact that the use of phenols and phenol derivatives as bench-stable cross-coupling partners has been well-recognized to bring about major advantages over aryl halides, such as (1) natural abundance of phenols, (2) avoidance of toxic halides, (3) orthogonal cross-coupling conditions, (4) prefunctionalization of phenolic substrates by electrophilic substitution or C-H functionalization, (5) ready availability of phenols from a different pool of precursors than aryl halides. In this review, we present an overview of recent advances made in the field of palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of C-O electrophiles with a focus on (1) catalytic systems, (2) reaction type, and (3) class of C-O coupling partners. Although the field has been historically dominated by nickel catalysis, it is now evident that the use of more versatile, more functional group tolerant and highly active palladium catalysts supported by appropriately designed ancillary ligands enables the cross-coupling with improved substrate scope and generality, and likely represents a practical solution to the broadly applicable cross-coupling of various C-O bonds across diverse chemical disciplines. The review covers the period through June 2020.

SO2 F2 -Mediated One-Pot Synthesis of Aryl Carboxylic Acids and Esters from Phenols through a Pd-Catalyzed Insertion of Carbon Monoxide

A one-pot Pd-catalyzed carbonylation of phenols into their corresponding aryl carboxylic acids and esters through the insertion of carbon monoxide has been developed. This procedure offers a direct synthesis of aryl carboxylic acids and esters from inexpensive and abundant starting materials (phenols, SO₂ F₂ and CO) under mild conditions. This method tolerates a broad range of functional groups and is also applicable for the modification of complicated natural products.

Palladium-catalyzed alkoxycarbonylation of aryl halides with phenols employing formic acid as the CO source

An efficient palladium-catalyzed alkoxycarbonylation of aryl halides with phenols has been developed. Various aryl benzoates have been isolated in good to excellent yields with formic acid as the CO source.

Hydroformylation of olefins and reductive carbonylation of aryl halides with syngas formed ex situ from dehydrogenative decarbonylation of hexane-1,6-diol

Carbon monoxide and molecular hydrogen are liberated from hexane-1,6-diol in a two-chamber reactor and employed for either a hydroformylation of olefins or a reductive carbonylation of aryl halides.

Trichlorophenyl formate: highly reactive and easily accessible crystalline CO surrogate for palladium-catalyzed carbonylation of aryl/alkenyl halides and triflates

The high utility of 2,4,6-trichlorophenyl formate, a highly reactive and easily accessible crystalline CO surrogate, is demonstrated. The decarbonylation with NEt(3) to generate CO proceeded rapidly at rt, thereby allowing external-CO-free Pd-catalyzed carbonylation of aryl/alkenyl halides and triflates. The high reactivity of the CO surrogate enabled carbonylation at rt and significantly reduced the quantities of formate to near-stoichiometric levels. The obtained trichlorophenyl esters can be readily converted to a variety of carboxylic acid derivatives in high yields.

A general method for palladium-catalyzed direct carbonylation of indole with alcohol and phenol

A novel strategy involving a first oxidative iodination and subsequent Pd(0)-catalyzed carbonylation to yield indole-3-carboxylate has been developed. It showed perfect generality to indole, alcohol, and phenol. The current methodology could also be conveniently applied to the synthesis of biologically active tropisetron from simple indole and tropine.

Palladium-catalyzed carbonylation of aryl, alkenyl, and allyl halides with phenyl formate

Highly efficient palladium-catalyzed carbonylation of aryl, alkenyl, and allyl halides with phenyl formate is reported. This procedure does not use carbon monoxide and affords one-carbon-elongated carboxylic acid phenyl esters in excellent yields. The reaction proceeds smoothly under mild conditions and tolerates a wide range of functional groups including aldehyde, ether, ketone, ester, and cyano groups. Furthermore, a variety of heteroaromatic bromides can be converted to the corresponding phenyl esters in high yields.