Potential Safety Hazards Associated with Pd-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling Reactions

A strategy for the controllable generation of organic superbases from benchtop-stable salts

Organic superbases are a distinct class of strong base that enable numerous modern reaction applications. Despite their great synthetic potential, widespread use and study of superbases are limited by their air sensitivity and difficult preparation. To address this, we report air-stable carboxylate salts of BTPP and P2-t-Bu phosphazene superbases that, when added to solution with an epoxide, spontaneously generate freebase. These systems function as effective precatalysts and stoichiometric prereagents for superbase-promoted addition, substitution and polymerization reactions. In addition to improving the synthesis, shelf stability, handling and recycling of phosphazenes, this approach enables precise regulation of the rate of base generation in situ. The activation strategy effectively mimics manual slow addition techniques, allowing for control over a reaction's rate or induction period and improvement of reactions that require strong base but are also sensitive to its presence, such as Pd-catalyzed coupling reactions.

A Brief Introduction to Chemical Reaction Optimization

From the start of a synthetic chemist's training, experiments are conducted based on recipes from textbooks and manuscripts that achieve clean reaction outcomes, allowing the scientist to develop practical skills and some chemical intuition. This procedure is often kept long into a researcher's career, as new recipes are developed based on similar reaction protocols, and intuition-guided deviations are conducted through learning from failed experiments. However, when attempting to understand chemical systems of interest, it has been shown that model-based, algorithm-based, and miniaturized high-throughput techniques outperform human chemical intuition and achieve reaction optimization in a much more time- and material-efficient manner; this is covered in detail in this paper. As many synthetic chemists are not exposed to these techniques in undergraduate teaching, this leads to a disproportionate number of scientists that wish to optimize their reactions but are unable to use these methodologies or are simply unaware of their existence. This review highlights the basics, and the cutting-edge, of modern chemical reaction optimization as well as its relation to process scale-up and can thereby serve as a reference for inspired scientists for each of these techniques, detailing several of their respective applications.

1,3-Diynes: A Versatile Precursor in Transition-Metal Catalyzed (Mediated) C-H Functionalizations

Transition metal-catalyzed C-H functionalization of diverse arenes with alkyne units has attracted enormous attention for decades since they provide straightforward access to various functionalization/annulations, which are commonly present in bioactive compounds and natural products. Recently, conjugated alkynes (1,3-diynes) have been utilized as key coupling partner in many C-H activation reactions due to their versatile characteristic properties. The presence of two C≡C bonds in conjugated 1,3-diyne brings the new diversity in synthetic transformations, such as chemo-, regioselective pathways, mono-bis functionalizations, cascade annulations, etc. Herein, we summarized the latest developments in the realm of transition-metal-catalyzed C-H functionalizations of diverse arenes with 1,3-diynes. Moreover, we highlighted the diverse transformations, conditions, mechanisms and applications of the corresponding reaction in detail.

A Convenient Procedure for Sonogashira Reactions Using Propyne

A modified Sonogashira coupling of aryl iodides and propyne­ was achieved using only two equivalents of propyne in THF from –78 °C to room temperature.

Ligand-Enabled C-H Olefination and Lactonization of Benzoic Acids and Phenylacetic Acids via Palladium Catalyst

A novel ligand propan-2-one O-(p-tolylcarbamoyl) oxime (L7) has been developed to promote C(sp²)-H olefination of benzoic acids and phenylacetic acids via a palladium catalyst. With the subsequent lactonization of the olefinated products through 1,4-addition, highly monoselective cyclic lactone products of benzofuranones and benzopyrones were obtained in moderate to excellent yields. The DFT calculation demonstrated that the novel ligand propan-2-one O-(p-tolylcarbamoyl) oxime (L7) could improve the C-H activation reaction to give cyclic lactone products elegantly.

Scale-Up of a Heck Alkenylation Reaction: Application to the Synthesis of an Amino-Modifier Nucleoside ‘Ruth Linker’

Ruth linker is a C5 pyrimidine modified nucleoside analogue widely utilized for the incorporation of a primary amine in a synthetic oligonucleotide. The increasing demand for non-radioactive labeling, detection of biomolecules, and assembly of COVID-19 test kits has triggered a need for scale-up of Ruth linker. Herein, an efficient protocol involving a palladium-catalyzed Heck alkenylation is described. The synthesis has been optimized with a goal of low catalyst concentration, column-free isolation, high product purity, reproducibility, and shorter reaction time. The scalability and utility of the process have been demonstrated successfully on a 100 g scale (starting material). Additionally, for scale-up of the Heck alkenylation protocol, 7-phospha-1,3,5-triaza-adamantanebutane sulfonate (PTABS) as the coordinating caged phosphine ligand was also synthesized on a multigram scale after careful optimization of the conditions.

On the Use of Differential Scanning Calorimetry for Thermal Hazard Assessment of New Chemistry: Avoiding Explosive Mistakes

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is increasingly used as evidence to support a favourable safety profile of novel chemistry, or to highlight the need for caution. DSC enables preliminary assessment of the thermal hazards of a potentially energetic compound. However, unlike other standard characterisation methods, which have well defined formats for reporting data, the current reporting of DSC results for thermal hazard assessment has shown concerning trends. Around half of all results in 2019 did not include experimental details required to replicate the procedure. Furthermore, analysis for thermal hazard assessment is often only conducted in unsealed crucibles, which could lead to misleading results and dangerously incorrect conclusions. We highlight the specific issues with DSC analysis of hazardous compounds currently in the organic chemistry literature and provide simple "best practice" guidelines which will give chemists confidence in reported DSC results and the conclusions drawn from them.

Development of an Aryl Amination Catalyst with Broad Scope Guided by Consideration of Catalyst Stability

We have developed a new dialkylbiaryl monophosphine ligand, GPhos, that supports a palladium catalyst capable of promoting carbon-nitrogen cross-coupling reactions between a variety of primary amines and aryl halides; in many cases, these reactions can be carried out at room temperature. The reaction development was guided by the idea that the productivity of catalysts employing BrettPhos-like ligands is limited by their lack of stability at room temperature. Specifically, it was hypothesized that primary amine and N-heteroaromatic substrates can displace the phosphine ligand, leading to the formation of catalytically dormant palladium complexes that reactivate only upon heating. This notion was supported by the synthesis and kinetic study of a putative off-cycle Pd complex. Consideration of this off-cycle species, together with the identification of substrate classes that are not effectively coupled at room temperature using previous catalysts, led to the design of a new dialkylbiaryl monophosphine ligand. An Ot-Bu substituent was added ortho to the dialkylphosphino group of the ligand framework to improve the stability of the most active catalyst conformer. To offset the increased size of this substituent, we also removed the para i-Pr group of the non-phosphorus-containing ring, which allowed the catalyst to accommodate binding of even very large α-tertiary primary amine nucleophiles. In comparison to previous catalysts, the GPhos-supported catalyst exhibits better reactivity both under ambient conditions and at elevated temperatures. Its use allows for the coupling of a range of amine nucleophiles, including (1) unhindered, (2) five-membered-ring N-heterocycle-containing, and (3) α-tertiary primary amines, each of which previously required a different catalyst to achieve optimal results.

Cobalt-Catalyzed Cross-Couplings between Alkyl Halides and Grignard Reagents

Metal-catalyzed cross-couplings have emerged as essential tools for the construction of C-C bonds. The identification of efficient catalytic systems as well as large substrate scope made these cross-couplings key reactions to access valuable molecules ranging from materials, agrochemicals to active pharmaceutical ingredients. They have been increasingly integrated in retrosynthetic plans, allowing shorter and original route development. Palladium-catalyzed cross-couplings still largely rule the field, with the most popular reactions in industrial processes being the Suzuki and Sonogashira couplings. However, the extensive use of palladium complexes raises several problems such as limited resources, high cost, environmental impact, and frequent need for sophisticated ligands. As a consequence, the use of nonprecious and cheap metal catalysts has appeared as a new horizon in cross-coupling development. Over the last three decades, a growing interest has thus been devoted to Fe-, Co-, Cu-, or Ni-catalyzed cross-couplings. Their natural abundance makes them cost-effective, allowing the conception of more sustainable and less expensive chemical processes, especially for large-scale production of active molecules. In addition to these economical and environmental considerations, the 3d metal catalysts also exhibit complementary reactivity with palladium complexes, facilitating the use of alkyl halide partners due to the decrease of β-elimination side reactions. In particular, by using cobalt catalysts, numerous cross-couplings between alkyl halides and organometallics have been described. However, cobalt catalysis still stays far behind palladium catalysis in terms of popularity and applications, and the expansion of the substrate scope as well as the development of simple and robust catalytic systems remains an important challenge.In 2012, our group entered the cobalt catalysis field by developing a cobalt-catalyzed cross-coupling between C-bromo glycosides and Grignard reagents. The generality of the coupling allowed the preparation of a range of valuable C-aryl and C-vinyl glycoside building blocks. We then focused on the functionalization of saturated N-heterocycles, and a variety of halo-azetidines, -pyrrolidines, and -piperidines were successfully reacted with aryl and alkenyl Grignard reagents under cobalt catalysis. With the objective of preparing valuable α-aryl amides, a cobalt-catalyzed cross-coupling applied to α-bromo amides was studied and then extended to α-bromo lactams. Recently, we also reported an efficient and general cross-coupling involving cyclopropyl- and cyclobutyl-magnesium bromides. This method allows the alkylation of functionalized small strained rings by a range of primary and secondary alkyl halides.

Discovery, Synthesis, and Scale-up of Efficient Palladium Catalysts Useful for the Modification of Nucleosides and Heteroarenes

Nucleic acid derivatives are imperative biomolecules and are involved in life governing processes. The chemical modification of nucleic acid is a fascinating area for researchers due to the potential activity exhibited as antiviral and antitumor agents. In addition, these molecules are also of interest toward conducting useful biochemical, pharmaceutical, and mutagenic study. For accessing such synthetically useful structures and features, transition-metal catalyzed processes have been proven over the years to be an excellent tool for carrying out the various transformations with ease and under mild reaction conditions. Amidst various transition-metal catalyzed processes available for nucleoside modification, Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions have proven to be perhaps the most efficient, successful, and broadly applicable reactions in both academia and industry. Pd-catalyzed C-C and C-heteroatom bond forming reactions have been widely used for the modification of the heterocyclic moiety in the nucleosides, although a single catalyst system that could address all the different requirements for nucleoside modifications isvery rare or non-existent. With this in mind, we present herein a review showcasing the recent developments and improvements from our research groups toward the development of Pd-catalyzed strategies including drug synthesis using a single efficient catalyst system for the modification of nucleosides and other heterocycles. The review also highlights the improvement in conditions or the yield of various bio-active nucleosides or commercial drugs possessing the nucleoside structural core. Scale ups wherever performed (up to 100 g) of molecules of commercial importance have also been disclosed.