Herein an improved protocol for the synthesis of imidazo[4,5‐b]pyridines and imidazo[4,5‐b]pyrazines using a palladium‐catalyzed amidation that utilizes Xantphos as an ancillary phosphine ligand is reported. The use of a binary solvent system comprised of 1,4‐dioxane and tert‐amyl alcohol was crucial in eliminating unwanted by‐products.
A novel copper‐catalyzed oxidative alkylation of α‐amino carbonyl compounds with ethers has been established for the selective synthesis of α‐etherized α‐amino carbonyl compounds. This oxidative alkylation is achieved by dual C(sp3) H bond oxidative cross‐coupling, and its scope is expanded to α‐amino ketones, α‐amino esters and α‐amino amides.
A gold(I)‐catalyzed cascade [3,3]‐propargylic rearrangement and [4+2] cycloaddition reaction of 2‐vinylindoles with propargylic esters is reported. The reaction leads to the synthesis of highly substituted tetrahydrocarbazole derivatives in high yields and diasteroselectivities. Furthermore, a preliminary screening for an asymmetric version of this reaction is described.
A highly efficient, iridium‐catalyzed, enantioselective hydrogenation of β,β‐disubstituted nitroalkenes has been developed. Using a complex consisting of iridium and (S,S)‐f‐spiroPhos as the catalyst, a variety of β,β‐disubstituted nitroalkenes were successfully hydrogenated to the corresponding chiral nitroalkanes with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 98% ee) and high turnover numbers (TON=1000).
The highly catalytic asymmetric α‐hydroxylation of β‐indanone esters and β‐indanone amides using peroxide as the oxidant was realized with a new C‐2′ substituted Cinchona alkaloid derivatives. The two enantiomers of α‐hydroxy‐β‐indanone esters could be obtained by simply changing the oxidant. This protocol allows a convenient access to the corresponding α‐hydroxy‐β‐indanone esters and α‐hydroxy‐β‐indanone amides with up to 99% yield and 98% ee.
The regioselectivity of the [3+2] cyclocondensation of trifluoromethyl‐α,β‐ynones with hydrazines can be readily tuned to preferentially afford either 3‐ or 5‐trifluoromethylpyrazoles through variation of the reaction conditions. Under catalysis with copper(II) acetate (2.0 mol%), cyclocondensation proceeded smoothly to yield 3‐trifluoromethylpyrazoles with high regioselectivity. In contrast, when the reaction was conducted in dimethyl sulfoxide under catalyst‐free conditions, the formation of 5‐trifluoromethylpyrazoles was predominantly observed.
A facile one‐pot, catalyst‐free reaction has been developed for the synthesis of 2,3,6,7‐tetrahydro‐1H‐pyrrolo[3,2‐c]pyridin‐4(5H)‐ones from readily available 1‐acryloyl‐1‐N‐arylcarbamylcyclopropanes and amines using a domino ring‐opening/cyclization/aza‐addition sequence.
Recent progress in asymmetric organocatalysis has led to the development of several asymmetric transformations that employ various substrates. Among these, cyanoacetates have emerged as excellent nucleophiles in conjugate addition, alkylation, Mannich and α‐heterofunctionalization reactions. In this review we discuss the enantioselective functionalization of 2‐cyanoacetates through organocatalytic reactions.
The direct α‐Csp2 H functionalization and thiomethylation of α‐oxoketene dithioacetals (DTAs) has been accomplished with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in the presence of iodine and a copper(I) salt for the first time. A prerequisite is the in situ iodination of the α‐Csp2 atom of dithioacetals that could offer other reaction channels. The operationally simple one‐pot protocol includes region‐defined consecutive iodination and sulfenylation of the challenging α‐Csp2 H bond of dithioacetals employing cheap and readily available reagents. DMSO here plays a dual role as thiomethyl source and solvent.
A catalytic enantioselective synthesis of α‐arylaminocyclobutanones from racemic α‐hydroxycyclobutanone and a selection of N‐alkylanilines has been established, via a tandem condensation/keto‐enol tautomerization process reminiscent of the Amadori and Heyns rearrangements.
A copper(II)‐catalyzed oxidative methylene‐bridged dimerization of two analogous imidazo[1,2‐a]pyridines has been achieved using N,N‐dimethylacetamide (DMA) as solvent cum methylene source. This reaction works with a variety of substituted imidazo[1,2‐a]pyridines giving their products in moderate to good yields. Isotopic labelling experiments revealed that the methylene group in the product originates from the N,N‐dimethyl moiety of DMA.
An organocatalytic approach for the stereoselective synthesis of 3,4‐dihydrocoumarins with an α,α‐disubstituted amino acid moiety incorporated is presented. The developed methodology is based on the cascade reaction between α‐substituted azlactones and 2‐hydroxychalcones. It is initiated by a chiral Brønsted base‐catalyzed enantio‐ and diastereoselective Michael reaction followed by the azlactone ring opening to construct a 3,4‐dihydrocoumarin framework. Products bearing two adjacent stereogenic centers, one being quaternary, were formed with high enantioselectivities and excellent diastereoselectivities. Furthermore, the complete regioselectivity of the new cascade reactivity is worthy of notice.
A transition metal‐free and efficient method for the synthesis of 3‐alkynylpyrrole‐2‐carboxylates from diynones and glycine esters or 2‐aminoacetophenone hydrochloride has been developed. This transformation provides a large range of substituted pyrroles in good to excellent yields with the elimination of water as the only by‐product. The detailed mechanistic studies elucidated that this transformation involves a Michael addition/intramolecular cyclodehydration process.
Treatment of cyclobutanecarboxamide with bis(trifluoroacetoxy)iodobenzene, PhI(OCOCF3)2, resulted in the formation of 1‐pyrroline via Hofmann rearrangement of the former followed by in situ ring expansion reaction of the cyclobutylamine intermediate. Further elaboration of this methodology to the synthesis of 2,3‐dihydro‐1H‐pyrrolo[2,1‐a]isoquinolinium salts has also been described.
A novel, direct and simple methodology to gain access to α,β‐disubstituted conjugated enones from α‐allenols in a sustainable metal catalysis context, considering the inexpensiveness and environmentally friendliness of iron(III) species and protons, has been developed.
Iridium(III) and rhodium(III) complexes can catalyze the carbocyclization between 2‐phenylimidazo[1,2‐a]pyridine and α‐diazo esters. The reaction occurs via C H activation and dialkylation of the arene followed by intramolecular nucleophilic substitution. Iridium(III) and rhodium(III) catalysis offer complementary scopes with respect to the α‐diazo esters.
The selective copper‐catalyzed borylation of silylalkynes in the presence of a diboron reagent and methanol produced a variety of (Z)‐β‐(borylvinyl)silanes. The appropriate use of a selective ligand for copper allows the chemo‐, regio‐, and stereoselective monoborylation of silylalkynes. The β‐regioselectivity of an N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC)‐copper catalyst was investigated by DFT calculations.
