Remote C–H Functionalizations by Ruthenium Catalysis

Ligand-enabled ruthenium-catalyzed meta-C-H alkylation of (hetero)aromatic carboxylic acids

Carboxylates are ideal directing groups because they are widely available, readily cleavable and excellent linchpins for diverse follow-up reactions. However, their use in meta-selective C-H functionalizations remains a substantial unmet catalytic challenge. Herein, we report the ruthenium-catalyzed meta-C-H alkylation of aromatic carboxylic acids with various functionalized alkyl halides. A bidentate N-ligand increases the electron density at the metal center of ortho-benzoate ruthenacycles to the extent that single-electron reductions of alkyl halides can take place. The subsequent addition of alkyl radicals is exclusively directed to the position para to the CAr-Ru bond, i.e., meta to the carboxylate group. The resulting catalytic meta-C-H alkylation extends to a wide range of (hetero)aromatic carboxylic acids including benzofused five-membered ring heteroarenes but no pyridine derivatives in combination with secondary/tertiary alkyl halides, including fluorinated derivatives. It also allows site-selective C5-H alkylation of 1-naphthoic acids. The products are shown to be synthetic hubs en route to meta-alkylated aryl ketones, nitriles, amides, esters and other functionalized products.

Late-stage meta-C-H alkylation of pharmaceuticals to modulate biological properties and expedite molecular optimisation in a single step

Catalysed C-H activation has emerged as a transformative platform for molecular synthesis and provides new opportunities in drug discovery by late-stage functionalisation (LSF) of complex molecules. Notably, small aliphatic motifs have gained significant interest in medicinal chemistry for their beneficial properties and applications as sp3-rich functional group bioisosteres. In this context, we disclose a versatile strategy with broad applicability for the ruthenium-catalysed late-stage meta-C(sp2)-H alkylation of pharmaceuticals. This general protocol leverages numerous directing groups inherently part of bioactive scaffolds to selectivity install a variety of medicinally relevant bifunctional alkyl units within drug compounds. Our strategy enables the direct modification of unprotected lead structures to quickly generate an array of pharmaceutically useful analogues without resorting to de novo syntheses. Moreover, productive late-stage modulation of key biological characteristics of drug candidates upon remote C-H alkylation proves viable, highlighting the major benefits of our approach to offer in drug development programmes.

Visible-Light-Mediated Bimetal-Catalyzed meta-Alkylation of Arenes

A mild approach to the visible-light-mediated bimetal-catalyzed meta-alkylation of arenes has been accomplished. The regioselective meta-alkylation is realized by a bimetallic ruthenium-palladium system. Ruthenium acts as a catalyst for the directing effect and as a photosensitizer, while the cocatalyst palladium behaves as a catalyst for the generation of fluoroalkyl radicals. This reaction not only is suitable for two-component meta-fluoroalkylation of arenes but can also be extended to three-component reactions to achieve bifunctionalization of olefins.

Transition-Metal-Catalyzed C-H Bond Activation for the Formation of C-C Bonds in Complex Molecules

Site-predictable and chemoselective C-H bond functionalization reactions offer synthetically powerful strategies for the step-economic diversification of both feedstock and fine chemicals. Many transition-metal-catalyzed methods have emerged for the selective activation and functionalization of C-H bonds. However, challenges of regio- and chemoselectivity have emerged with application to highly complex molecules bearing significant functional group density and diversity. As molecular complexity increases within molecular structures the risks of catalyst intolerance and limited applicability grow with the number of functional groups and potentially Lewis basic heteroatoms. Given the abundance of C-H bonds within highly complex and already diversified molecules such as pharmaceuticals, natural products, and materials, design and selection of reaction conditions and tolerant catalysts has proved critical for successful direct functionalization. As such, innovations within transition-metal-catalyzed C-H bond functionalization for the direct formation of carbon-carbon bonds have been discovered and developed to overcome these challenges and limitations. This review highlights progress made for the direct metal-catalyzed C-C bond forming reactions including alkylation, methylation, arylation, and olefination of C-H bonds within complex targets.

Ruthenium-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling of Ketones as an Alkenyl Electrophile with Organoborons via Cleavage of Alkenyl C-N Bonds of in Situ Generated Enamines

A ruthenium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of ketones with organoboronic esters was developed. In this reaction, ketones possessing a pyridine-directing group directly functions as an alkenyl electrophile for coupling with organoboronates in the presence of pyrrolidine and a ruthenium catalyst. This reaction proceeds via the catalytic cleavage of the alkenyl carbon-nitrogen bond in the enamines generated in situ from ketones with pyrrolidine, benzylamine, or isoindoline.

Remote C-H Glycosylation by Ruthenium(II) Catalysis: Modular Assembly of meta-C-Aryl Glycosides

The prevalence of C-aryl glycosides in biologically active natural products and approved drugs has long motivated the development of efficient strategies for their selective synthesis. Cross-couplings have been frequently used, but largely relied on palladium catalyst with prefunctionalized substrates, while ruthenium-catalyzed C-aryl glycoside preparation has thus far proven elusive. Herein, we disclose a versatile ruthenium(II)-catalyzed meta-C-H glycosylation to access meta-C-aryl glycosides from readily available glycosyl halide donors. The robustness of the ruthenium catalysis was reflected by mild reaction conditions, outstanding levels of anomeric selectivity and exclusive meta-site-selectivity.

Photo-Induced Ruthenium-Catalyzed Double Remote C(sp2 )-H / C(sp3 )-H Functionalizations by Radical Relay

Distal C(sp2 )-H and C(sp3 )-H functionalizations have recently emerged as step-economical tools for molecular synthesis. However, while the C(sp2 )-C(sp3 ) construction is of fundamental importance, its formation through double remote C(sp2 )-H/C(sp3 )-H activation has proven elusive. By merging the ruthenium-catalyzed meta-C(sp2 )-H functionalization with an aliphatic hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) process, we, herein, describe the catalyzed twofold remote C(sp2 )-H/C(sp3 )-H functionalizations via photo-induced ruthenium-mediated radical relay. Thus, meta-C(sp2 )-H arene bonds and remote C(sp3 )-H alkane bonds were activated by a single catalyst in a single operation. This process was accomplished at room temperature by visible light-notably without exogenous photocatalysts. Experimental and computational theory studies uncovered a manifold comprising ortho-C-H activation, single-electron-transfer (SET), 1,n-HAT (n=5-7) and σ-activation by means of a single ruthenium(II) catalyst.

Redox-Neutral Ru(0)-Catalyzed Alkenylation of 2-Carboxaldimine-heterocyclopentadienes

A new Ru₃(CO)₁₂-catalyzed directed alkenylation of 2-carboxaldimine-heterocyclopentadienes has been accomplished. This process allows coupling of furan, pyrrole, indole, and thiophene 2-carboxaldimines with electron-poor alkenes such as acrylates, vinylsulfones, and styrenes. This regio- and chemoselective oxidative C-H coupling does not require the presence of an additional sacrificial oxidant. Density functional theory calculations allowed us to propose a mechanism and unveiled the nature of the H₂ acceptor.

Access to Diarylmethanols by Wittig Rearrangement of ortho-, meta-, and para-Benzyloxy-N-Butylbenzamides

The N-butyl amide group, CONHBu, has been found to be an effective promoter of the [1,2]-Wittig rearrangement of aryl benzyl ethers and thus allow the two-step synthesis of isomerically pure substituted diarylmethanols starting from simple hydroxybenzoic acid derivatives. The method is compatible with a wide range of functional groups including methyl, methoxy, and fluoro, although not with nitro and, unexpectedly, is applicable to meta as well as ortho and para isomeric series.

Catalysis with cycloruthenated complexes

Cycloruthenated complexes have been studied extensively over the last few decades. Many accounts of their synthesis, characterisation, and catalytic activity in a wide variety of transformations have been reported to date. Compared with their non-cyclometallated analogues, cycloruthenated complexes may display enhanced catalytic activities in known transformations or possess entirely new reactivity. In other instances, these complexes can be chiral, and capable of catalysing stereoselective reactions. In this review, we aim to highlight the catalytic applications of cycloruthenated complexes in organic synthesis, emphasising the recent advancements in this field.

We discuss recent advances in the applications of cycloruthenated complexes in organic synthesis, comprising C–H activation, chiral-at-metal catalysis, Z-selective olefin metathesis, transfer hydrogenation, enantioselective cyclopropanations and cycloadditions.

Remote steric control for undirected meta-selective C-H activation of arenes

Regioselective functionalization of arenes remains a challenging problem in organic synthesis. Steric interactions are often used to block sites adjacent to a given substituent, but they do not distinguish the remaining remote sites. We report a strategy based on remote steric control, whereby a roof-like ligand protects the distant para site in addition to the ortho sites, and thereby enables selective activation of meta carbon-hydrogen (C-H) bonds in the absence of ortho or para substituents. We demonstrate this concept for iridium-catalyzed meta-selective borylation of various monosubstituted arenes, including complex drug molecules. This strategy has the potential to expand the toolbox of C-H bond functionalization to previously nondifferentiable reaction sites.

Pd(ii)-catalyzed meta-C–H bromination and chlorination of aniline and benzoic acid derivatives

The classic electrophilic bromination leads to ortho- and para-bromination of anilines due to their electron-rich properties. Herein we report the development of an unprecedented Pd-catalyzed meta-C–H bromination of aniline derivatives using commercially available N-bromophthalimide (NBP), which overcomes the competing ortho/para-selectivity of electrophilic bromination of anilines. The addition of acid additives is crucial for the success of this reaction. A broad range of substrates with various substitution patterns can be tolerated in this reaction. Moreover, benzoic acid derivatives bearing complex substitution patterns are also viable with this mild bromination reaction, and meta-C–H chlorination is also feasible under similar reaction conditions. The ease of the directing group removal and subsequent diverse transformations of the brominated products demonstrate the application potential of this method and promise new opportunities for drug discovery.

An unprecedented Pd-catalyzed meta-C–H bromination and chlorination of highly substituted aniline and benzoic acid derivatives using N-bromophthalimide is reported.

C-H activation by immobilized heterogeneous photocatalysts

During the last decades, the merger of photocatalysis with transition metal chemistry has been surfaced as a sustainable tool in modern molecular syntheses. This Account highlights major advances in synergistic photo-enabled C‒H activations. Inspired by our homogenous ruthenium- and copper-catalyzed C‒H activations in the absence of an exogenous photosensitizer, this Account describes the recent progress on heterogeneous photo-induced C‒H activation enabled by immobilized hybrid catalysts until September 2021, with a topical focus on recyclability as well as robustness of the heterogeneous photocatalyst.