This paper describes the aerobic oxidation of styrenes catalyzed by iron(III) chloride (FeCl3) to form β‐keto‐N‐alkoxyphthalimides in fair to good yields. This oxidative process employs mild conditions with green and atom efficient dioxygen (O2) as the oxidant.
Copper chloride‐catalyzed aerobic oxidative annulation of N‐furfuryl‐β‐enaminones provides access to polysubstituted pyrroles and indoles. This protocol involves an unprecedented copper chloride‐catalyzed oxidative chlorination of furan and pyrrole rings with oxygen as the terminal oxidant.
A form of hydromagnesite (HM) with flower‐like thin‐sheet morphology was synthesized by an environmentally benign approach using simple conventional heating at moderate temperature without using any template in water as medium. The versatility of this HM catalyst was studied in the synthesis of flavanones, flavonols and the multicomponent synthesis of 1,4‐dihydropyridines in water. The recyclability of catalyst was studied for six times and there was no appreciable loss in its catalytic activity.
A transition metal‐free direct arylation of 2‐substituted cyanoacetates with diaryliodonium salts was developed. With this approach, a wide range of α‐tolunitrile derivatives has been synthesized in good to excellent yields of 45–92%. Furthermore, the practicability of this approach is further manifested in the synthesis of a related bioactive agent of glutarimide.
A copper‐catalyzed cascade reaction involving trifluoromethylation of acrylamides coupled with ring closure and indole dearomatization is reported. This facile transformation was highly regioselective and proceeded under mild conditions, allowing efficient access to trifluoromethyl‐substituted spiro[indole‐3,3′‐pyrrolidine] derivatives, which are of increasing interest to the pharmaceutical industry.
An aluminum triflate‐catalyzed intramolecular reaction sequence involving protonation and Mannich‐like nucleophilic addition of indoles toward the concise construction of the tetrahydropyrido[1,2‐a]indol‐6‐one skeleton is reported. This new reaction pattern employs a carbon atom as nucleophile to form a C C bond which bears one or even two quaternary carbons and leads to the dearomatization of indoles with high atom economy.
Novel copper‐catalyzed three‐component reactions of phenylacetonitrile, sulfur and DMF (dimethyformamide) for the selective preparation of N,N‐dimethylthiobenzamide and N,N‐dimethyl‐2‐phenylethanethioamides in yields of up to 96% are described.
An efficient copper‐catalyzed α‐aminoxylation of ketones with 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐1‐oxyl (TEMPO) is presented for the synthesis of 2‐aryloxy‐1‐aryl‐2‐(2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidin‐1‐yloxy)ethanones in moderate to excellent yields. It is noteworthy that the copper/iron (Cu/Fe) catalyst can be recovered and reused several times with high catalytic reactivity.
A straightforward approach for the chemodivergent synthesis of quinolines is described through site‐selective coupling of ortho‐aminoaryl ketones with α‐enolic dithioesters (DTEs) under solvent‐free conditions. The operationally and user‐simple one‐pot methodology is based on the trifunctional nature of DTEs. Both the carbonyl and the thiocarbonyl moiety in α‐enolic dithioesters were employed for the efficient construction of three differently substituted quinolines in a chemoselective manner simply by variation of an easy to handle acid catalyst.
A new copper‐mediated synthesis of α‐sulfonylethanone oximes from styrenes, sodium arylsulfinates and tert‐butyl nitrite (t‐BuONO; TBN) is presented. This intermolecular three‐component method enables the one‐step formation of C N and C S bonds under mild conditions, and represents a new, straightforward approach to α‐sulfonylethanone oximes.
Cyclometallated NHC palladium complexes prepared from palladium(II) acetate [Pd(OAc)2] and unsymmetrical 1,3‐diarylimidazolinium salts catalyzed the hydroxymethylation of (hetero)arylboronic acids using an excess amount of formalin to afford (hetero)arylmethanols in good to satisfactory yields.
A highly efficient palladium‐catalyzed decarbonylative dehydration reaction of carboxylic acids is reported. This method transforms abundant and renewable even‐numbered natural fatty acids into valuable and expensive odd‐numbered alpha olefins. Additionally, the chemistry displays a high functional group tolerance. The process employs a low loading of palladium catalyst and proceeds under solvent‐free and relatively mild conditions.
A convenient three‐component coupling reaction for the construction of conjugated enynes using rhodium catalysis is reported. Dimerization of a monosubstituted alkyne followed by trapping of the vinyl metal intermediate with an electron‐deficient alkene, such as methyl vinyl ketone, provided moderate to good yields of these enynes. The use of the hindered electron‐rich tris(ortho‐tolyl)phosphine as a ligand for the rhodium catalyst provided the best conversions to these complex products.
A new enantioselective synthetic method for the synthesis of α,α‐dialkylmalonates with a quaternary carbon center was developed via α‐alkylation of prochiral malonates by phase‐transfer catalysis (PTC). Asymmetric α‐alkylation of benzylideneamino tert‐butyl α‐methylmalonates under phase‐transfer catalytic conditions in the presence of (S,S)‐3,4,5‐trifluorophenyl‐NAS bromide afforded the corresponding α,α‐dialkylmalonates in high yields (up to 97%) with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 98% ee). The products were then selectively hydrolyzed to chiral malonic monoacids under basic, acidic, or catalytic hydrogenation conditions.
An efficient copper‐catalyzed oxidative coupling of imidazo[1,2‐a]pyridines with methyl ketones to directly generate structurally sophisticated 1,2‐dicarbonyl imidazo[1,2‐a]pyridine derivatives under oxidative conditions is described. The reaction proceeds in good yields using the environmental friendly molecular oxygen as the oxidant. 18O‐Labelling experiments unambiguously established that the oxygen of the dicarbonyl products originated from oxygen rather than from water.
