Combined directed ortho-zincation and palladium-catalyzed strategies: Synthesis of 4,n-dimethoxy-substituted benzo[b]furans

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.

Rapid regio- and multi-coupling reactivity of 2,3-dibromobenzofurans with atom-economic triarylbismuths under palladium catalysis

A regio- and chemoselective cross-coupling study using 2,3-dibromobenzofurans and 2,3,5-tribromobenzofuran was achieved with sub-stoichiometric loadings of triarylbismuths as atom-economic reagents under Pd-catalyzed conditions. As part of this study, various 2,3-diaryl- and 2,3,5-triarylbenzofuran products were obtained in high yields, involving one-pot operations and short reaction times.

A practical, one-pot synthesis of highly substituted thiophenes and benzo[b]thiophenes from bromoenynes and o-alkynylbromobenzenes

An efficient synthesis of thiophenes and benzo[b]thiophenes has been developed from easily available bromoenynes and o-alkynylbromobenzene derivatives. This novel one-pot procedure involves a Pd-catalyzed C-S bond formation using a hydrogen sulfide surrogate followed by a heterocyclization reaction. Moreover, in situ functionalization with selected electrophiles further expands the potential of this methodology to the preparation of the corresponding highly substituted sulfur heterocycles.