Palladium-Catalyzed Fluoride-Free Cross-Coupling of Intramolecularly Activated Alkenylsilanes and Alkenylgermanes: Synthesis of Tamoxifen as a Synthetic Application

Recent Developments with Organogermanes: their Preparation and Application in Synthesis and Catalysis

Within the sphere of traditional Pd0 /PdII cross coupling reactions, organogermanes have been historically outperformed both in terms of scope and reactivity by more conventional transmetalating reagents. Subsequently, this class of compounds has been largely underutilized as a coupling partner in bond-forming strategies. Most recent studies, however, have shown that alternative modes of activation of these notoriously robust building blocks transform organogermanes into the most reactive site of the molecule-capable of outcompeting other functional groups (such as boronic acids, esters and silanes) for both C-C and C-heteroatom bond formation. As a result, over the past few years, the literature has increasingly featured methodologies that explore the potential of organogermanes as chemoselective and orthogonal coupling partners. Herein we highlight some of these recent advances in the field of organogermane chemistry both with respect to their synthesis and applications in synthetic and catalytic transformations.

Nucleophilic Allylation of Acylsilanes in Water: An Effective Alternative to Functionalized Tertiary α-Silylalcohols

A nucleophilic allylation of acylsilanes in water was developed, generating versatile functionalized tertiary α-silyl alcohols in high yields. With the assistance of hydrogen bonding, a reaction model of less reactive acylsilane was achieved. Unlike the conventional strategy, transition metals and an additional Lewis acid catalyst were not required, and rate acceleration was observed in water.

Inorganometallics (Transition Metal-Metalloid Complexes) and Catalysis

While the formation and breaking of transition metal (TM)-carbon bonds plays a pivotal role in the catalysis of organic compounds, the reactivity of inorganometallic species, that is, those involving the transition metal (TM)-metalloid (E) bond, is of key importance in most conversions of metalloid derivatives catalyzed by TM complexes. This Review presents the background of inorganometallic catalysis and its development over the last 15 years. The results of mechanistic studies presented in the Review are related to the occurrence of TM-E and TM-H compounds as reactive intermediates in the catalytic transformations of selected metalloids (E = B, Si, Ge, Sn, As, Sb, or Te). The Review illustrates the significance of inorganometallics in catalysis of the following processes: addition of metalloid-hydrogen and metalloid-metalloid bonds to unsaturated compounds; activation and functionalization of C-H bonds and C-X bonds with hydrometalloids and bismetalloids; activation and functionalization of C-H bonds with vinylmetalloids, metalloid halides, and sulfonates; and dehydrocoupling of hydrometalloids. This first Review on inorganometallic catalysis sums up the developments in the catalytic methods for the synthesis of organometalloid compounds and their applications in advanced organic synthesis as a part of tandem reactions.

Germatranes and carbagermatranes: (hetero)aryl and alkyl coupling partners in Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions

In the past few decades, palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions have taken root in the construction of a complex synthetic community. The development of organometallics has been an important objective in this field. Our group has focused on exploiting new germanium-based reagents and the corresponding catalytic processes. In the past three years, we have established new methods for the synthesis of structure-modified (hetero)aryl germatranes and alkyl carbagermatranes. Particularly for alkyl carbagermatranes, the stability to be compatible with various derivatization reactions and the high activity for transmetallation (e.g. base/additive-free for primary alkyl carbagermatranes) distinguish them from many reported nucleophiles. In this article, we would introduce (1) the development process of organogermanium reagents in palladium-catalyzed cross-couplings; (2) the history of germatrane-type systems and the breakthrough we have made in the field; (3) the outlook for (carba)germatranes and alkyl-GeMe₃.

Copper-Catalyzed Synthesis of Tetrasubstituted Alkenes via Regio- and anti-Selective Addition of Silylboronates to Internal Alkynes

As a new and complementary method for the synthesis of structurally defined tetrasubstituted alkenes, a copper-catalyzed regio- and anti-selective addition of silylboronates to unsymmetric internal alkynes has been developed. A variety of unactivated alkynes can be employed with high selectivity under simple and mild conditions, and the resulting products have been further functionalized by utilizing silyl and boryl groups on the alkene.

Acyl metalloids: conformity and deviation from carbonyl reactivity

Once considered as mere curiosities, acyl metalloids are now recognized for their utility in enabling chemical synthesis. This perspective considers the reactivity displayed by acylboron, -silicon, -germanium, and tellurium species. By highlighting the role of these species in various transformations, we demonstrate how differences between the comprising elements result in varied reaction outcomes. While acylboron compounds are primarily used in polar transformations, germanium and tellurium species have found utility as radical precursors. Applications of acylsilanes are comparatively more diverse, owing to the possibility to access both radical and polar chemistry.

Pd-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling of Highly Sterically Congested Enol Carbamates with Grignard Reagents via C-O Bond Activation

The palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of enol carbamates to construct highly sterically congested alkenyl compounds is presented for the first time. This protocol demonstrates the potential of using thermally stable and highly atom-economic enol electrophiles as building blocks in bulky alkene synthesis. This reaction accommodates a broad substrate scope with excellent Z/E isomer ratios, which also provides a new synthetic pathway for accessing Tamoxifen.

The Exploration of Aroyltrimethylgermane as Potent Synthetic Origins and Their Preparation

The synthetic utilities of acylgermanes are surprisingly rarely explored compared with their analogues. In this communication, the survey of aroyltrimethylgermane as potent synthetic origins has been studied. A variety of novel chemical transformations have been realized, including using the acylgermane group as a directing group in Rh-catalyzed aromatic C-H alkenylation reaction and Ir-catalyzed aromatic C-H amidation reactions. Additionally, a general approach for acylgermanes preparation has been established as well. The catalytic system proceeds effectively in the presence of Pd(OAc)2/BINOL-based monophosphite (L11) and allows for the straightforward access to a wide range of functionalized acylgermanes in high yields.

Gold-Catalyzed C-H Functionalization with Aryl Germanes

The development of orthogonal Csp2 -Csp2 coupling regimes to the omnipresent Pd-catalysis class would enable an additional dimension of modularity in the construction of densely functionalized biaryl motifs. In this context, the identification of potent functional groups for selective transformations is in high demand. Although organogermanium compounds are generally believed to be of low reactivity in homogenous catalysis, this report discloses the highly efficient and orthogonal reactivity of aryl germanes with arenes under gold catalysis. The method is characterized by mildness, the employment of an air- and moisture-stable gold catalyst, and robustness. Our mechanistic studies show that aryl germanes are highly reactive with Au(I) and Au(III). Our computational data suggest that the origin of this reactivity primarily lies in the relatively low bond dissociation energy and as such low distortion energy to reach the key bond activating transition state.

An atom efficient synthesis of tamoxifen

The direct carbolithiation of diphenylacetylenes and their cross-coupling procedure taking advantage of the intermediate alkenyllithium reagents are presented. By employing our recently discovered highly active palladium nanoparticle based catalyst, we were able to couple an alkenyllithium reagent with a high (Z/E) selectivity (10 : 1) and good yield to give the breast cancer drug tamoxifen in just 2 steps from commercially available starting materials and with excellent atom economy and reaction mass efficiency.

Designing Cross-Coupling Reactions using Aryl(trialkyl)silanes

Organo(trialkyl)silanes have several advantages, including high stability, low toxicity, good solubility, easy handling, and ready availability compared with heteroatom-substituted silanes. However, methods for the cross-coupling of organo(trialkyl)silanes are limited, most probably because of their exceeding robustness. Thus, a practical method for the cross-coupling of organo(trialkyl)silanes has been a long-standing challenging research target. This article discusses how aryl(trialkyl)silanes can be used in cross-coupling reactions. A pioneering example is Cu^II catalytic conditions with the use of electron-accepting aryl- or heteroaryl(triethyl)silanes and aryl iodides. The reaction forms biaryls or teraryls. This design concept can be extended to Pd/Cu^II -catalyzed cross-coupling polymerization reactions between such silanes and aryl bromides or chlorides and to Cu^I -catalyzed alkylation using alkyl halides.

Facile synthesis of unnatural β-germyl-α-amino amides via Pd(ii)-catalyzed primary and secondary C(sp3)–H bond germylation

Pd(ii)-Catalyzed direct C(sp³)–H germylation of α-AA derivatives with the assistance of a bidentate auxiliary for the efficient synthesis of β-germyl-α-amino amides is reported.

Divergent Synthetic Access to E- and Z-Stereodefined All-Carbon-Substituted Olefin Scaffolds: Application to Parallel Synthesis of (E)- and (Z)-Tamoxifens

A highly substrate‐general synthesis of all‐carbon‐substituted E‐ and Z‐stereodefined olefins is performed. The method comprises two sets of parallel and stereocomplementary preparations of (E)‐ and (Z)‐α,β‐unsaturated esters involving two robust and distinctive reactions: 1) stereocomplementary enol tosylations using readily available TsCl/diamine/(LiCl) base reagents, and 2) stereoretentive Negishi cross‐coupling using the catalysts [Pd(dppe)Cl₂] (for E) and [Pd(dppb)Cl₂] (for Z). The present parallel approach is categorized as both type I (convergent approach: 16 examples, 56–87 % yield) and type II (divergent approach: 18 examples, 70–95 % yield). The obtained (E)‐ and (Z)‐α,β‐unsaturated ester scaffolds are successfully transformed into various E‐ and Z‐stereodefined known and novel olefins (8×2 derivatization arrays). As a demonstration, application to the parallel synthesis of both (E)‐ and (Z)‐tamoxifens, a representative motif of all‐carbon‐substituted olefins, is accomplished in a total of eight steps with an overall yield of 58 % (average 93 %) and 57 % (average 93 %), respectively.

(E)- and (Z)-stereodefined enol phosphonates derived from β-ketoesters: stereocomplementary synthesis of fully-substituted α,β-unsaturated esters

A versatile, robust, and stereocomplementary synthesis of fully-substituted (E)- and (Z)-stereodefined α,β-unsaturated esters 3 from accessible α-substituted β-ketoesters 1via (E)- and (Z)-enol phosphonates was achieved.

DFT studies on the mechanism of palladium-catalyzed carbon–silicon cleavage for the synthesis of benzosilole derivatives

DFT calculations have been carried out to study the detailed mechanism of Pd-catalyzed intermolecular coupling reactions of 2-silylaryl bromides with alkynes via selective cleavage of C(sp³)–Si bonds.

Catalytic boracarboxylation of alkynes with diborane and carbon dioxide by an N-heterocyclic carbene copper catalyst

By the use of an N-heterocyclic carbene copper(I) complex as a catalyst, the boracarboxylation of various alkynes (e.g., diaryl alkynes, aryl/alkyl alkynes, and phenylacetylene) with a diborane compound and carbon dioxide has been achieved for the first time, affording the α,β-unsaturated β-boralactone derivatives regio- and stereoselectively via a borylcupration/carboxylation cascade. Some important reaction intermediates were isolated and structurally characterized to clarify the reaction mechanism.