Palladium-catalyzed site-selective hydrogen isotope exchange (HIE) reaction of arylsulfonamides using amino acid auxiliary

C-H deuteration of organic compounds and potential drug candidates

C-H deuteration has been intricately developed to satisfy the urgent need for site-selectively deuterated organic frameworks. Deuteration has been primarily used to study kinetic isotope effects of reactions but recently its significance in pharmaceutical chemistry has been discovered. Deuterium labelled compounds have stolen the limelight since the inception of the first FDA-approved deuterated drug, for the treatment of chorea-associated Huntington's disease, and their pharmacological importance was realised by chemists, although surprisingly very late. Various approaches were developed to carry out site-selective deuteration. However, the most common and efficient method is hydrogen isotope exchange (HIE). This review summarises deuteration methods of various organic motifs containing C(sp²)-H and C(sp³)-H bonds utilizing C-H bond functionalisation as a key step along with a variety of catalysts, and exemplifies their biological relevance.

Palladium(II)/Lewis Acid-Catalyzed Olefination of Arylacetamides with Dioxygen

The present work introduces Pd(II)/LA-catalyzed (LA: Lewis acid) olefination of arylacetamides with dioxygen as the oxidant source. This protocol tolerates with different functional groups on the substrates, and the catalytic efficiency is highly Lewis acidity-dependent on added LA, that is, a stronger LA provided a better promotional effect. The ¹H NMR studies of the semireaction between the arylacetamide and the Pd(II)/Sc(III) catalyst in HOAc-d₄ disclosed the formation of a palladacycle intermediate, and the C-H activation step was reversible, which led to the formation of the deuterated arylacetamide substrate and the palladacycle intermediate. Further semireaction between the palladacycle intermediate and the olefin disclosed that it was a clean and much faster reaction than the C-H activation step, thus revealing multiple mechanistic information for Pd(II)-catalyzed C-H activation.

Recent Developments for the Deuterium and Tritium Labeling of Organic Molecules

Organic compounds labeled with hydrogen isotopes play a crucial role in numerous areas, from materials science to medicinal chemistry. Indeed, while the replacement of hydrogen by deuterium gives rise to improved absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) properties in drugs and enables the preparation of internal standards for analytical mass spectrometry, the use of tritium-labeled compounds is a key technique all along drug discovery and development in the pharmaceutical industry. For these reasons, the interest in new methodologies for the isotopic enrichment of organic molecules and the extent of their applications are equally rising. In this regard, this Review intends to comprehensively discuss the new developments in this area over the last years (2017-2021). Notably, besides the fundamental hydrogen isotope exchange (HIE) reactions and the use of isotopically labeled analogues of common organic reagents, a plethora of reductive and dehalogenative deuteration techniques and other transformations with isotope incorporation are emerging and are now part of the labeling toolkit.

Ortho-Selective Hydrogen Isotope Exchange of Phenols and Benzyl Alcohols by Mesoionic Carbene-Iridium Catalyst

Hydrogen isotope exchange reactions of phenols and benzyl alcohols have been achieved by a mesoionic carbene-iridium catalyst with high ortho selectivity and high functional group tolerance. Control experiments indicated that acetate is crucial to realize the ortho selectivity, whereas density functional theory calculations supported an outer-sphere direction with hydrogen bonding between acetate and the hydroxyl group.

Ortho-Deuteration of Aromatic Aldehydes via a Transient Directing Group-Enabled Pd-Catalyzed Hydrogen Isotope Exchange

A practical and scalable ortho-selective deuteration of aromatic aldehydes was accomplished by Pd-catalyzed hydrogen isotope exchange with deuterium oxide as an inexpensive deuterium source. The use of tert-leucine as a transient directing group facilitates the exchange, affording a wide range of ortho-deuterated aromatic aldehydes with deuterium incorporation up to 97%. The control experiments suggest that the addition of silver trifluoroacetate resists the unexpected reduction of Pd(II), while the theoretical study indicates a rapid reversible concerted metalation-deprotonation process.

Asymmetric Reduction of Aromatic α-Dehydroamino Acid Esters with Water as Hydrogen Source

The asymmetric reduction of aromatic α-dehydroamino acid esters with water as the hydrogen source was developed by a Rh/Cu co-catalytic system. The reaction tolerates various functional groups, providing a valuable synthetic tool to access chiral α-amino acid esters readily. Moreover, the present methodology also was applied in the cost-effective and easy to handle preparation of chiral deuterated α-amino esters by using D₂O.

Bidentate Directing Groups: An Efficient Tool in C-H Bond Functionalization Chemistry for the Expedient Construction of C-C Bonds

During the past decades, synthetic organic chemistry discovered that directing group assisted C-H activation is a key tool for the expedient and siteselective construction of C-C bonds. Among the various directing group strategies, bidentate directing groups are now recognized as one of the most efficient devices for the selective functionalization of certain positions due to fact that its metal center permits fine, tunable, and reversible coordination. The family of bidentate directing groups permit various types of assistance to be achieved, such as N,N-dentate, N,O-dentate, and N,S-dentate auxiliaries, which are categorized based on the coordination site. In this review, we broadly discuss various C-H bond functionalization reactions for the formation of C-C bonds with the aid of bidentate directing groups.

Ruthenium-Catalyzed ortho- and meta-H/D Exchange of Arenes

Ruthenium-catalyzed aromatic H/D exchange in [D₄]acetic acid has been developed. By using N-heteroarenes as directing groups, both ortho and meta positions are selectively deuterated with high levels of D incorporation. Moreover, this strategy provides an alternative way to achieve meta-C-H activation.

Palladium-Catalyzed Remote meta-C-H Bond Deuteration of Arenes Using a Pyridine Template

Palladium-catalyzed meta-selective C-H deuteration of a series of substrates, including phenylacetic acids, hydrocinnamic acid, benzylphosphonate, benzylsulfonate, and benzyl and phenyl ethyl alcohol ester, is developed by using a pyridine-based directing template. The template is installed into the substrate through a practical ester linkage. Under mild reaction conditions, a variety of phenylacetic acids containing alkyl, methoxyl, and halo substituents are compatible in the reaction, resulting in high levels of D-incorporation at the meta position.

A highly selective H/D exchange reaction of 1,4-dihydropyridines

Herein, we report a simple, economical, and effective acid-mediated method for the in situ deuteration of Hantzsch esters and their 4-substituted derivatives, including some drugs that constitute important calcium channel blockers which are effective for hypertension treatment. Hydrogen isotope exchange occurred selectively at α-alkyl C-H bonds in the 2,6-substituents.