Highly selective synthesis of allylated arenes and diarylmethanes via palladium-catalyzed cross coupling involving benzylic derivatives

Total synthesis of RNA-polymerase inhibitor ripostatin B and 15-deoxyripostatin A

Keep me skipped: a highly convergent total synthesis of ripostatin B, an inhibitor of the bacterial RNA polymerase, is described. The key steps to construct and avoid isomerization of the skipped triene are a double Stille cross-coupling reaction and a ring-closing metathesis. Furthermore, 15-deoxyripostatin A, a stable and conformationally locked analogue of ripostatin A, was prepared and tested in vivo.

Alkyne elementometalation-Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling. Toward synthesis of all conceivable types of acyclic alkenes in high yields, efficiently, selectively, economically, and safely: "green" way

Palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions, especially those involving Zn, Al, Zr (Negishi coupling), and B (Suzuki coupling), collectively have brought about "revolutionary" changes in organic synthesis. Thus, two regio- and stereodefined carbon groups generated as R(1)M (M = Zn, Al, B, Cu, Zr, etc.) and R(2)X (X = I, Br, OTs, etc.) may now be cross-coupled to give R(1)-R(2) with essentially full retention of all structural features. For alkene syntheses, alkyne elementometalation reactions including hydrometalation (B, Al, Zr, etc.), carbometalation (Cu, Al-Zr, etc.), and haloboration (BX(3) where X is Cl, Br, and I) have proven to be critically important. Some representative examples of highly efficient and selective (>or=98%) syntheses of di-, tri-, and oligoenes containing regio- and stereodefined di- and trisubstituted alkenes of all conceivable types will be discussed with emphasis on those of natural products. Some interesting but undesirable cases involving loss of the initial structural identities of the alkenyl groups are attributable to the formation of allylpalladium species, which must be either tamed or avoided. Some such examples involving the synthesis of 1,3-, 1,4-, and 1,5-dienes will also be discussed.

Efficient and stereoselective synthesis of yellow scale pheromone via alkyne haloboration, Zr-catalyzed asymmetric carboalumination of alkenes (ZACA reaction), and Pd-catalyzed tandem Negishi coupling

A Pd-catalyzed reaction of allylzincs with the 1-octyne bromoboration product gives the desired allyl-alkenyl coupling products in good yields except with H 2CCHCH 2ZnBr. This reaction is suitable for converting an alkyne bromoboration product 3 into 4 with no isomerization or beta-elimination. The Pd-catalyzed isoalkyl-alkenyl coupling of 4 with the isoalkylzinc reagent derived from 2 provides yellow scale pheromone ( 1) of >/=98% isomeric purity in 34% in six steps from TBDPS-protected homoallyl alcohol.

Nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of benzylic zinc reagents with aromatic bromides, chlorides and tosylates

Benzylic zinc reagents prepared by direct insertion of zinc to benzylic chlorides in the presence of LiCl undergo smooth cross-coupling reactions with aromatic chlorides, bromides and tosylates using Ni(acac)(2) and PPh(3) as a catalyst system.

Controlling Regiochemistry in Negishi Carboaluminations. Fine Tuning the Ligand on Zirconium

The species on the zirconocene catalyst is changed from two Cp's to the Brintzinger ligand and catalytic amounts of MAO are used to usually effect a >99% regiocontrol of Negishi carboaluminations of 1-alkynes in toluene.

Cross-coupling of benzylic acetates with arylboronic acids: one-pot transformation of benzylic alcohols to diarylmethanes

Benzylic acetates reacted with arylboronic acids in the presence of a DPEphos-[Pd(eta3-C3H5)Cl]2 catalyst when tert-amyl alcohol was used as a solvent, and the catalytic cross-couplings produced diarylmethanes in high yields (up to 94% isolated yield).

An Improved Synthesis of the “Miracle Nutrient” Coenzyme Q10

[reaction: see text] A new route to the key coupling partner, chloromethylated CoQ0 (1), allows for direct formation of CoQ10 (3) via nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling with the side chain in the form of an in situ-derived vinyl alane (2).

Synthesis and properties of a new member of the calixnaphthalene family: a C(2)-symmetrical endo-calix[4]naphthalene

The synthesis of a new endo-calix[4]naphthalene is described. The reaction sequence involves the cyclocondensation of a key bisnaphthylmethane intermediate (8) with formaldehyde. This key intermediate (8) is formed using a modified Suzuki-Miyaura Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction between bromomethylnaphthyl (6) and naphthylboronic acid (7), both of which can be derived from 2-hydroxynaphthoic acid.

A novel, highly selective, and general methodology for the synthesis of 1,5-diene-containing oligoisoprenoids of all possible geometrical combinations exemplified by an iterative and convergent synthesis of coenzyme Q(10)

[reaction: see text] A truly general, versatile, and highly regio- and stereoselective methodology for the synthesis of terpenoids containing 1,5-diene units of E and/or Z geometry critically involves Pd-catalyzed homoallyl- and homopropargyl-alkenyl coupling and Zr-catalyzed carboalumination of alkynes. By using this methodology, coenzyme Q(10), (E,Z,E)-geranylgeranoil, and other natural or unnatural compounds have been synthesized efficiently.

A convenient and asymmetric protocol for the synthesis of natural products containing chiral alkyl chains via Zr-catalyzed asymmetric carboalumination of alkenes. Synthesis of phytol and vitamins E and K

[reaction: see text]. A convenient and asymmetric protocol for the synthesis of chiral oligoisoprenoids is described. Typically, a C14 vitamin E side chain 5 was synthesized in 47% yield over four steps. Isomeric purity of 5 was upgraded to >99% R at C-2 and 97% R at C-6 by the statistical formation of stereoisomeric p-phenylenebisurethanes and their diastereomeric separation. In addition, phytol and vitamin K were synthesized in 21% and 28% overall yields, respectively, over five steps from 1.