Palladium-Catalyzed Desulfitative Cross-Coupling Reaction of Sodium Sulfinates with Benzyl Chlorides

Phase transfer catalysts shift the pathway to transmetalation in biphasic Suzuki-Miyaura cross-couplings

The Suzuki-Miyaura coupling is a widely used C-C bond forming reaction. Numerous mechanistic studies have enabled the use of low catalyst loadings and broad functional group tolerance. However, the dominant mode of transmetalation remains controversial and likely depends on the conditions employed. Herein we detail a mechanistic study of the palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling under biphasic conditions. The use of phase transfer catalysts results in a remarkable 12-fold rate enhancement in the targeted system. A shift from an oxo-palladium based transmetalation to a boronate-based pathway lies at the root of this activity. Furthermore, a study of the impact of different water loadings reveals reducing the proportion of the aqueous phase increases the reaction rate, contrary to reaction conditions typically employed in the literature. The importance of these findings is highlighted by achieving an exceptionally broad substrate scope with benzylic electrophiles using a 10-fold reduction in catalyst loading relative to literature precedent.

Visible-Light-Initiated Air-Oxygenation of Alkylarenes to Carbonyls Mediated by Carbon Tetrabromide in Water

Synthesizing benzyl skeleton derivatives via direct oxidation of functionalized benzylic C-H bonds has received extensive research attention. Herein, a method was developed to prepare carbonyl compounds via photoinduced aerobic oxidation of ubiquitous benzylic C-H bonds mediated by bromine radicals and tribromomethane radicals. This method employed commercially available CBr4 as a hydrogen atom transfer reagent precursor, air as an oxidant, water as a reaction solvent, and tetrabutylammonium perchlorate (TBAPC) as an additive under mild conditions. A series of substrates bearing different functional groups was converted to aromatic carbonyls in moderate to good yields. Moreover, a low environmental factor (E-factor value=0.45) showed that the proposed method is ecofriendly and environmentally sustainable.

Reductant‐Free Cross‐Electrophile Synthesis of Di(hetero)arylmethanes by Palladium‐Catalyzed Desulfinative C−C Coupling

An efficient Pd‐catalyzed one‐pot desulfinative cross‐coupling to access medicinally relevant di(hetero)arylmethanes is reported. The method is reductant‐free, and involves a sulfinate transfer reagent and a Pd‐catalyst mediating the union of two electrophilic coupling partners; a (hetero)aryl halide and a benzyl halide. We establish for the first time that benzyl sulfinates, generated in situ, undergo efficient Pd‐catalyzed desulfinative cross‐coupling with (hetero)aryl halides to generate di(hetero)arylmethanes. The reaction can be extended to benzylic pseudohalides derived from benzyl alcohols. The reactions are straightforward to perform and scalable, and all reaction components are commercially available.

A new protocol for synthesizing diarylmethanes using a benzyltitanium reagent as a nucleophile

The first palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of various substituted benzyltitaniums with aryl triflates is presented for the synthesis of diarylmethanes in yields of up to 94% through highly selective C–O bond functionalization. The benzyltitaniums act as nucleophiles to realize the C(sp2)–C(sp3) cross-coupling with high efficiency in short reaction times. The reactions proceed at 60°C and show excellent functional groups tolerance.

Palladium-catalyzed Lewis acid-regulated cascade annulation of alkynes with unactivated alkenes to access diverse α-methylene-γ-lactones

A palladium-catalyzed Lewis acid-regulated cascade annulation of alkynes with unactivated alkenes for the preparation of alkyl substituted α-methylene-γ-lactones with excellent Z/E selectivities was accomplished.

Tunable and Practical Homogeneous Organic Reductants for Cross-Electrophile Coupling

The syntheses of four new tunable homogeneous organic reductants based on a tetraaminoethylene scaffold are reported. The new reductants have enhanced air stability compared to current homogeneous reductants for metal-mediated reductive transformations, such as cross-electrophile coupling (XEC), and are solids at room temperature. In particular, the weakest reductant is indefinitely stable in air and has a reduction potential of -0.85 V versus ferrocene, which is significantly milder than conventional reductants used in XEC. All of the new reductants can facilitate C(sp²)-C(sp³) Ni-catalyzed XEC reactions and are compatible with complex substrates that are relevant to medicinal chemistry. The reductants span a range of nearly 0.5 V in reduction potential, which allows for control over the rate of electron transfer events in XEC. Specifically, we report a new strategy for controlled alkyl radical generation in Ni-catalyzed C(sp²)-C(sp³) XEC. The key to our approach is to tune the rate of alkyl radical generation from Katritzky salts, which liberate alkyl radicals upon single electron reduction, by varying the redox potentials of the reductant and Katritzky salt utilized in catalysis. Using our method, we perform XEC reactions between benzylic Katritzky salts and aryl halides. The method tolerates a variety of functional groups, some of which are particularly challenging for most XEC transformations. Overall, we expect that our new reductants will both replace conventional homogeneous reductants in current reductive transformations due to their stability and relatively facile synthesis and lead to the development of novel synthetic methods due to their tunability.

Palladium-catalyzed Tsuji-Trost-type reaction of benzofuran-2-ylmethyl acetates with nucleophiles

The palladium-catalyzed benzylic-like nucleophilic substitution of benzofuran-2-ylmethyl acetate with N, S, O and C soft nucleophiles has been investigated. The success of the reaction is dramatically influenced by the choice of catalytic system: with nitrogen based nucleophiles the reaction works well with Pd2(dba)3/dppf, while with sulfur, oxygen and carbo-nucleophiles [Pd(η3-C3H5)Cl]2/XPhos is more efficient. The regiochemical outcome shows that the nucleophilic substitution occurs only on the benzylic position of the η3-(benzofuryl)methyl complex. The high to excellent yields and the simplicity of the experimental procedure make this protocol a versatile synthetic tool for the preparation of 2-substituted benzo[b]furans.

Transition-metal mediated carbon-sulfur bond activation and transformations: an update

Carbon-sulfur bond cross-coupling has become more and more attractive as an alternative protocol to establish carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds. Diverse transformations through transition-metal-catalyzed C-S bond activation and cleavage have recently been developed. This review summarizes the advances in transition-metal-catalyzed cross-coupling via carbon-sulfur bond activation and cleavage since late 2012 as an update of the critical review on the same topic published in early 2013 (Chem. Soc. Rev., 2013, 42, 599-621), which is presented by the categories of organosulfur compounds, that is, thioesters, thioethers including heteroaryl, aryl, vinyl, alkyl, and alkynyl sulfides, ketene dithioacetals, sulfoxides including DMSO, sulfones, sulfonyl chlorides, sulfinates, thiocyanates, sulfonium salts, sulfonyl hydrazides, sulfonates, thiophene-based compounds, and C[double bond, length as m-dash]S functionality-bearing compounds such as thioureas, thioamides, and carbon disulfide, as well as the mechanistic insights. An overview of C-S bond cleavage reactions with stoichiometric transition-metal reagents is briefly given. Theoretical studies on the reactivity of carbon-sulfur bonds by DFT calculations are also discussed.

Mechanistic Studies of the Palladium-Catalyzed Desulfinative Cross-Coupling of Aryl Bromides and (Hetero)Aryl Sulfinate Salts

Pyridine and related heterocyclic sulfinates have recently emerged as effective nucleophilic coupling partners in palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions with (hetero)aryl halides. These sulfinate reagents are straightforward to prepare, stable to storage and coupling reaction conditions, and deliver efficient reactions, thus offering many advantages, compared to the corresponding boron-derived reagents. Despite the success of these reactions, there are only scant details of the reaction mechanism. In this study, we use structural and kinetic analysis to investigate the mechanism of these important coupling reactions in detail. We compare a pyridine-2-sulfinate with a carbocyclic sulfinate and establish different catalyst resting states, and turnover limiting steps, for the two classes of reagent. For the carbocyclic sulfinate, the aryl bromide oxidative addition complex is the resting state intermediate, and transmetalation is turnover-limiting. In contrast, for the pyridine sulfinate, a chelated Pd(II) sulfinate complex formed post-transmetalation is the resting-state intermediate, and loss of SO2 from this complex is turnover-limiting. We also investigated the role of the basic additive potassium carbonate, the use of which is crucial for efficient reactions, and deduced a dual function in which carbonate is responsible for the removal of free sulfur dioxide from the reaction medium, and the potassium cation plays a role in accelerating transmetalation. In addition, we show that sulfinate homocoupling is responsible for converting Pd(OAc)2 to a catalytically active Pd(0) complex. Together, these studies shed light on the challenges that must be overcome to deliver improved, lower temperature versions of these synthetically important processes.

Cation-π Interactions in the Benzylic Arylation of Toluenes with Bimetallic Catalysts

A method to directly arylate toluene derivatives with aryl bromides to generate diarylmethanes, which are important building blocks in drug discovery, is described. In this method, KN(SiMe3)2 in combination with a (NIXANTPHOS)Pd catalyst accomplished the deprotonative activation of toluene derivatives to permit cross-coupling with aryl bromides. Good to excellent yields are obtained with a range of electron-rich to neutral aryl bromides. Both electron-rich and electron-poor toluene derivatives are well tolerated, and even 2-chlorotoluene performs well, providing a platform for introduction of additional functionalization. This discovery hinges on the use of a main group metal to activate toluene for deprotonation by means of a cation-π interaction, which is secured by a bimetallic K(NIXANTPHOS)Pd assembly. Mechanistic and computational studies support acidification of toluene derivatives by the K+-cation- π interaction, which may prove pertinent in the development of other, new reaction systems.

Unsymmetrical CNN-palladacycles with geometry-constrained iminopyridyl ligands: an efficient precatalyst in Suzuki coupling for accessing 1,1-diarylalkanes from secondary benzylic bromides

We developed a series of unsymmetrical CNN palladacycles with geometry-constrained iminopyridyl ligands, which were used as efficient precatalysts for preparing diarylalkanes through Suzuki coupling.

Halo-substituted benzenesulfonyls and benzenesulfinates: convenient sources of arenes in metal-catalyzed C–C bond formation reactions for the straightforward access to halo-substituted arenes

The use of halo-substituted ArSO₂R as an aryl source in metal-catalyzed C–C bond formation reactions presents several advantages, as the reaction often proceeds without cleavage of the C–halo bonds.

Regiocontrolled Synthesis of α-Sulfonylmethyl o-Nitrostyrenes via ZnI2-Mediated Sulfonylation and AgNO2/Pd(PPh3)4-Promoted o-Nitration

We report herein the AgNO₂/Pd(PPh₃)₄-promoted regiocontrolled o-nitration of α-sulfonylmethylstyrenes in MeNO₂ with good yields. The o-nitration process provides a series of sulfonyl o-nitrostyrenes. Substituted α-sulfonylmethylstyrenes were synthesized from ZnI₂-mediated sulfonylation of substituted α-methylstyrenes and sodium sulfinates (RSO₂Na) in MeCN with good to excellent yields. The structures of the key products were confirmed by X-ray crystallography. A plausible mechanism has been proposed herein.

Platinum-catalyzed syn-stereocontrolled ring-opening of oxabicyclic alkenes with sodium arylsulfinates

A new efficient platinum-catalyzed ring-opening reaction of oxabicyclic alkenes with a wide range of sodium arylsulfinates was developed.

Acid-promoted denitrogenative Pd-catalyzed addition of arylhydrazines with nitriles at room temperature

Pd(TFA)₂-catalyzed denitrogenative addition proceeded with selective C–N bond cleavage of arylhydrazines with nitriles under air at room temperature.

Structure–activity relationships in Pd catalysed C–S activation of thioesters

The structure–activity relationship of thioesters promoted by Pd(0) complex has been studied using the density functional theory calculation methods.

Palladium-Catalyzed Desulfitative Oxidative Coupling between Arenesulfinic Acid Salts and Allylic Alcohols: A Strategy for the Selective Construction of β-Aryl Ketones and Aldehydes

An efficient palladium-catalyzed desulfitative oxidative coupling of sodium arylsulfinites for highly region-selective Heck-type reaction of allylic alcohols has been developed. The compatibility of the functionalities of -I, -Br, and -F would explore further postfunctionalization of the C-X bonds. This method provides a new and straightforward protocol for the synthesis of β-aryl ketones and aldehydes. The deuterium labeling experiments indicated that this transformation may proceed via a [1, 2-H] shift process.

Cobalt co-catalysis for cross-electrophile coupling: diarylmethanes from benzyl mesylates and aryl halides

The nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling of aryl halides with alkyl radicals derived from alkyl halides has recently been extended to couplings with carbon radicals generated by a co-catalyst. In this study, a new co-catalyst, cobalt phthalocyanine (Co(Pc)), is introduced and demonstrated to be effective for coupling substrates not prone to homolysis. This is because Co(Pc) reacts with electrophiles by an SN2 mechanism instead of by the electron-transfer or halogen abstraction mechanisms previously explored. Studies demonstrating the orthogonal reactivity of (bpy)Ni and Co(Pc), applying this selectivity to the coupling of benzyl mesylates with aryl halides, and the adaptation of these conditions to the less reactive benzyl phosphate ester and an enantioconvergent reaction are presented.