Zhu X, Liu X, Xia F, Liu L. Theoretical Study on the Copper-Catalyzed
ortho-Selective C-H Functionalization of Naphthols with
α-Phenyl-
α-Diazoesters.
Molecules 2023;
28:molecules28041767. [PMID:
36838753 PMCID:
PMC9960375 DOI:
10.3390/molecules28041767]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2023] [Revised: 02/07/2023] [Accepted: 02/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The aromatic C(sp2)-H functionalization of unprotected naphthols with α-phenyl-α-diazoesters under mild conditions catalyzed by CuCl and CuCl2 exhibits high efficiency and unique ortho-selectivity. In this study, the combination of density functional theory (DFT) calculations and experiments is employed to investigate the mechanism of C-H functionalization, which reveals the fundamental origin of the site-selectivity. It explains that CuCl-catalyzed ortho-selective C-H functionlization is due to the bimetallic carbene, which differs from the reaction catalyzed by CuCl2 via monometallic carbene. The results demonstrate the function of favourable H-bond interactions on the site- and chemo-selectivity of reaction through stabilizing the rate-determining transition states in proton (1,3)-migration.
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