Copper-catalyzed N-arylation of indoles

Abstract:

Over the past decades, the N-arylation of indoles has gained an inevitable role in the fields of material science, pharmaceuticals, and agrochemical industries. They are the basic core skeleton of many natural products. Their synthesis by Ullmann-type C–N coupling reaction of indole derivatives with aryl halides through various catalytic protocols is well explored. Transition metal catalysis was the best method for synthesizing 1-aryl indoles, and copper catalysis is the leading among them. This review comprehends the recent developments in the copper-catalyzed C–N cross-coupling of indoles with aryl halides from 2010 to 2022.

Cu(I) complexes obtained via spontaneous reduction of Cu(II) complexes supported by designed bidentate ligands: bioinspired Cu(I) based catalysts for aromatic hydroxylation

Copper(i) complexes [Cu(L1-7)2](ClO4) (1-7) of bidentate ligands (L1-L7) have been synthesized via spontaneous reduction and characterized as catalysts for aromatic C-H activation using H2O2 as the oxidant. The single crystal X-ray structure of 1 exhibited a distorted tetrahedral geometry. All the copper(i) complexes catalyzed direct hydroxylation of benzene to form phenol with good selectivity up to 98%. The determined kinetic isotope effect (KIE) values, 1.69-1.71, support the involvement of a radical type mechanism. The isotope-labeling experiments using H218O2 showed 92% incorporation of 18O into phenol and confirm that H2O2 is the key oxygen supplier. Overall, the catalytic efficiencies of the complexes are strongly influenced by the electronic and steric factor of the ligand, which is fine-tuned by the ligand architecture. The benzene hydroxylation reaction possibly proceeded via a radical mechanism, which was confirmed by the addition of radical scavengers (TEMPO) to the catalytic reaction that showed a reduction in phenol formation.