Brønsted acid promoted benzylic C-H bond functionalization of azaarenes: nucleophilic addition to aldehydes

Catalyst-free C(sp3)-H functionalization of methyl azaarenes with heteroaromatic trifluoromethyl ketone hydrates: "all-water" synthesis of α-trifluoromethyl tertiary alcohols

An efficient catalyst-free C(sp³)-H bond functionalization of methyl azaarenes with heteroaromatic trifluoromethyl ketone hydrates in neat water has been developed for the synthesis of α-trifluoromethyl tertiary alcohols bearing N-heteroaromatics. This method not only features excellent efficiency, broad substrate scope, catalyst-free conditions, and easy gram-scale preparation but also represents a new and rare example of "all-water" synthesis of trifluoromethylated molecules.

An atom-economical addition of methyl azaarenes with aromatic aldehydes via benzylic C(sp3)-H bond functionalization under solvent- and catalyst-free conditions

A convenient practical approach for the synthesis of 2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethanols by direct benzylic addition of azaarenes and aldehydes under catalyst- and solvent-free conditions is reported. This reaction is metal-free, green, and was carried out in a facile operative environment without using any hazardous transition metal catalysts or any other coupling reagents. Different aromatic aldehydes and azaarenes were monitored, and the yields of the resulting products were moderate to excellent. We accomplished several azaarene derivatives under neat conditions through a highly atom-economical pathway. To evaluate the preparative potential of this process, gram-scale reactions were performed up to a 10 g scale.

Triflic Acid-Catalyzed Cycloisomerization of 1,6-Enynes: Facile Access to Carbo- and Azaheterocycles

A new and efficient strategy for enynes cyclization catalyzed by triflic acid has been described. Various valuable carbocycle-fused and heterocycle-fused ketones were easily accessed by the formation of new C-C and C-O bond under benign reaction conditions. This protocol also provides another opportunity to construct polycyclic single-nitrogen ketones via a cation-induced cascade cyclization of polyenynes. Furthermore, antiviral bioassays revealed that a few compounds exhibited good antiviral activity against tobacco mosaic virus at a concentration of 200 μg mL^-1.

Iodine mediated oxidative cross-coupling of unprotected anilines and heteroarylation of benzothiazoles with 2-methylquinoline

Iodine-promoted oxidative C-H/C-H cross-coupling of unprotected anilines and 2-methylquinoline to furnish C4-carbonylated aniline (4-aminophenyl)(quinoline-2-yl) methanones in moderate to good yields has been demonstrated. This work provides the first site-selective approach for the synthesis of free amino groups containing methanones including unprecedented C-H functionalization rather than the N-H functionalization of unprotected anilines via the Kornblum oxidation of 2-methylquinoline. Furthermore, we noticed that the incorporation of KOH under standard conditions provides 2-heteroarylbenzothiazoles from benzothiazoles and 2-methylquinoline in good to excellent yields. These transformations do not require any transition metals or peroxides and tolerate various functional groups such as methoxy, hydroxy, bromo, chloro and nitro groups. Moreover, a plausible mechanistic pathway is proposed.

Iodine-promoted one-pot synthesis of 1,3,4-oxadiazole scaffolds via sp3 C–H functionalization of azaarenes

An efficient metal-free one-pot protocol has been developed for the construction of 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives via iodine-mediated oxidative amination of benzylic C–H bonds of azaarenes.

Copper-catalyzed oxidative coupling of quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones with alcohols: access to hydroxyalkylation of quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones

An efficient protocol for the synthesis of hydroxyl-containing quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones has been developed via the copper-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones with alcohols with moderate to good yields.

Acetic Acid Promoted Redox Annulations with Dual C-H Functionalization

Amines such as 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline undergo redox-neutral annulations with 2-alkylquinoline-3-carbaldehydes as well as the corresponding 4-alkyl isomers and pyridine analogues. These processes involve dual C-H bond functionalization. Acetic acid is used as a cosolvent and acts as the sole promoter of these transformations.

Iodine-catalyzed oxidative multiple C–H bond functionalization of isoquinolines with methylarenes: an efficient synthesis of isoquinoline-1,3,4(2H)-triones

An iodine-catalyzed multiple C–H bond functionalization of isoquinolines with methylarenes via a successive benzylic sp³ C–H iodination/N-benzylation/amidation/double sp² C–H oxidation sequence to yield isoquinoline-1,3,4(2H)-triones is developed for the first time.

A facile I2-catalyzed synthesis of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines via sp3 C–H functionalization of azaarenes and evaluation of anticancer activity

A three component synthetic protocol has been developed for the synthesis of medicinally important imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines via the iodine-catalyzed oxidative amination of benzylic C–H bonds of azaarenes. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their anti-cancer activity.

Zinc-catalyzed chemoselective alkylation of α-keto amides with 2-alkylazaarenes

A zinc-catalyzed C(sp³)–H addition of 2-alkylazaarenes to α-keto amides to furnish azaarene incorporated α-hydroxy amides has been developed for the first time. Chemoselective alkylation of the keto functionality of the α-keto amides in the presence of isolated ketones is the key advantage of this Zn-catalyzed protocol.

Water-mediated and promoted eco-friendly one-pot synthesis of azaarene substituted isoxazoles

An efficient and green approach for the sp³ C–H bond functionalization of 2-methyl azaarenes to 3-methyl-4-nitro-5-styrylisoxazoles in water has been described.

Synthesis of benzyl esters from the commercially available alcohols catalyzed by TBAI via C(sp3)–H bond functionalization

The direct esterification of alcohol catalyzed by TBAI via C(sp³)–H bond functionalization was achieved under mild and clean conditions with good to excellent yields.

3-Component synthesis of α-substituted sulfonamides via Brønsted acid-catalyzed C(sp3)–H bond functionalization of 2-alkylazaarenes

A Brønsted acid-catalyzed addition of 2-alkylazaarenes to in situ generated N-sulfonylimines through selective C(sp³)–H bond functionalization has been developed.

Transition metal-free oxidative ortho-acylation of phenols with N-heteroarylmethanes via double C–H activation

The direct oxidative acylation of phenols with N-heteroarylmethanes via sp³C–H and sp²C–H double activation was achieved under metal-free conditions. The reaction proceeds in a facile I₂/DMSO/O₂ system regio-selectively to produce valuable (2-hydroxyphenyl)arylmethanones. A plausible mechanism was proposed.

Tautomerization of 2,6-lutidines in the presence of B(C6F5)3 using catecholborane as a precatalyst

The Lewis pair of 2,6-lutidine and B(C₆F₅)₃ can undergo tautomerization to produce enamine B(C₆F₅)₃ adducts when catecholborane is applied as a precatalyst.

Bi(OTf)3-catalyzed C–H bond functionalization of azaarenes for the facile access to oxindoles featuring quaternary carbon centers

Bi(OTf)₃-catalyzed sp³ C–H functionalization of 2-alkyl azaarenes to isatylidene malononitriles has been achieved to give oxindoles containing an all-carbon quaternary center.

Solvent free one-pot multi-component synthesis of β-azaarene substituted ketones via a Sn-catalyzed C(sp3)–H functionalization of 2-alkylazaarenes

A tin-catalyzed solvent free one-pot multi-component cascade reaction strategy for the efficient synthesis of β-azaarene substituted ketones via an aldol–Michael addition/C(sp³)–H functionalization of 2-alkylazaarenes has been developed.

Utilization of methylarenes as versatile building blocks in organic synthesis

This review attempts to describe the latest developments in the utilisation of methylarenes adopting C–H functionalization strategies and covers all the developments until March 2015.

Magnetically separable CuFe2O4 nanoparticles as a recoverable catalyst for the addition reaction of C(sp3)–H bond of azaarenes to aldehydes

A green and efficient method for CuFe₂O₄-catalyzed C(sp³)–H functionalization of 2-alkyl azaarenes has been developed. The catalyst can be magnetically recycled and reused for eight times without significant decrease in catalytic activity.

Iron-catalyzed C(sp3)–H functionalization of methyl azaarenes: a green approach to azaarene-substituted α- or β-hydroxy carboxylic derivatives and 2-alkenylazaarenes

An iron-catalyzed C(sp³)–H functionalization of methyl azaarenes with carbonyls to access the title compounds have been described.

Facile synthesis of azaarene-2-substituted chromanone derivatives via tandem sp3 C–H functionalization/decarboxylation of azaarenes with 4-oxo-4H-chromene-3-carboxylic acid

A facile catalyst-free tandem sp³ C–H functionalization/decarboxylation of 4-oxo-4H-chromene-3-carboxylic acid with 2-alkylazaarenes was developed, which can construct the biologically significant azaarene 2-substituted chromanones in a single step.