Synthesis of α-Trifluoromethylacrylates by Ligand-Free Palladium-Catalyzed Mizoroki-Heck Reaction

Heck Reaction of 2-Oxyacrylates with Aryl Bromides: A Common Route to Monoaryl Pyruvates and Ortho Ester-Protected Monoaryl Pyruvates

A palladium-catalyzed Heck reaction between 2-oxyacrylates and aryl bromides was developed, where DavePhos was a unique ligand that efficiently promoted the reaction. The products, 2-oxycinnamates, served as excellent precursors, providing synthetically useful monoaryl pyruvates or ortho ester-protected monoaryl pyruvates depending on the nature of the 2-oxy group. The formation of such ortho esters via alkoxide addition is novel, and computational studies identified a plausible mechanism with an oxyallyl zwitterion as the key intermediate.

Phospha-Michael Addition on α-Fluorinated Acrylates: A Straightforward Access to Polyfunctionalized Fine Chemicals

α-Fluorinated acrylates could act as Michael acceptors and become a platform toward the synthesis of relevant complex molecules. Very few conjugate additions have been developed in the literature with these specific substrates, and herein, we reported the first phospha-Michael addition (PMA) on α-trifluoromethylacrylates and α-fluoromethylacrylates. The reaction proved to be highly tolerant and gave original products containing contiguous C-P and C-CFY₂ (Y = F or H) bonds in good to excellent yields and diastereoselectivities.

Modern metal-catalyzed and organocatalytic methods for synthesis of coumarin derivatives: a review

Coumarin is an important pharmaceutical structural motif, abundantly found in numerous commonly used drugs. Compounds containing this core show a broad spectrum of medicinal properties and biological activities. The increasing importance and wide usages of coumarin derivatives have drawn attention to its synthetic methods, among which metal-catalyzed and organocatalytic methods have proved the most effective. Several metal-catalyzed and/or organocatalytic synthetic strategies for coumarin have been investigated and reported in recent decades. This review focuses on more recent reports on catalysis methods for synthesizing coumarin and coumarin-like structures (including light-mediated methods and nano-catalysts), exploring the mechanistic aspects, simplicity, efficiency, repeatability, and other advantages and disadvantages of these methods.

Palladium-Catalyzed Three-Component 1,4-Alkoxyarylation Reaction of [60]Fullerene

The palladium-catalyzed three-component alkoxyarylation reaction of [60]fullerene with primary/secondary alcohols and aryl iodides generates a series of 1,4-(alkoxy)(aryl)[60]fullerene derivatives. Plausible reaction pathways for the formation of 1,4-(alkoxy)(aryl)[60]fullerenes are proposed. In addition, the electrochemical properties of the synthesized 1,4-alkoxyarylation adducts are investigated.

Ligand-free copper-catalyzed borylative defluorination: access to gem-difluoroallyl boronic acid derivatives

We report a ligand-free copper-catalyzed β-borylation, defluorination of β-substituted, α-trifluoromethyl-α,β-unsaturated esters. The reaction affords geminal-difluoroallyl boronic acid derivatives in moderate to good yield. The reaction was tolerant of various substrates, and the utility of products was demonstrated in the defluorinative functionalization of the difluoroalkene to afford enol ethers.

Tungsten catalysed decarboxylative [3 + 2] cycloaddition aromatization: one-pot synthesis of trifluoromethyl-pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines with visible light irradiation

Trifluoromethyl-pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines, which are difficult to prepare via traditional methods, could be readily prepared via a tungsten-catalysed decarboxylative [3 + 2] cycloaddition aromatization process.

Palladium-catalyzed three-component 1,4-aminoarylation of [60]fullerene with aryl iodides and N-methoxysulfonamides, and further transformations

The palladium-catalyzed three-component 1,4-aminoarylation of [60]fullerene afforded 1,4-(aryl)(sulfonamide)[60]fullerenes, of which the sulfonamide group could be replaced by a (hetero)aryl, malonate ester or allyl group in the presence of FeCl3.