Pan A, Chojnacka M, Crowley R, Göttemann L, Haines BE, Kou KGM. Synergistic Brønsted/Lewis acid catalyzed aromatic alkylation with unactivated tertiary alcohols or di-
tert-butylperoxide to synthesize quaternary carbon centers.
Chem Sci 2022;
13:3539-3548. [PMID:
35432882 PMCID:
PMC8943850 DOI:
10.1039/d1sc06422c]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Dual Brønsted/Lewis acid catalysis involving environmentally benign, readily accessible protic acid and iron promotes site-selective tert-butylation of electron-rich arenes using di-tert-butylperoxide. This transformation inspired the development of a synergistic Brønsted/Lewis acid catalyzed aromatic alkylation that fills a gap in the Friedel–Crafts reaction literature by employing unactivated tertiary alcohols as alkylating agents, leading to new quaternary carbon centers. Corroborated by DFT calculations, the Lewis acid serves a role in enhancing the acidity of the Brønsted acid. The use of non-allylic, non-benzylic, and non-propargylic tertiary alcohols represents an underexplored area in Friedel–Crafts reactivity.
Dual Brønsted/Lewis acid catalysis involving environmentally benign, readily accessible protic acid and iron promotes site-selective tert-alkylation of arenes using di-tert-butylperoxide and tertiary alcohols.![]()
Collapse