Copper Catalyzed Oxidative Arylation of Tertiary Carbon Centers

Construction of quaternary alkyl motifs through palladium-catalyzed oxidative coupling of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds with alkenes followed by C-C bond cleavage

A palladium-catalyzed coupling reaction has been developed for the generation of tertiary alkylation products by reacting olefins with diversely functionalized 1,3-dicarbonyls. The reaction involves the tertiary C-H alkylation of 1,3-dicarbonyls with olefins to produce a tertiary alcohol, followed by C-C bond cleavage.

Csp2-H functionalization of phenols: an effective access route to valuable materials via Csp2-C bond formation

In the vast majority of top-selling pharmaceutical and industrial products, phenolic structural motifs are highly prevalent. Non-functionalized simple phenols serve as building blocks in the synthesis of value-added chemicals. It is worth mentioning that lignin, being the largest renewable biomass source of aromatic building blocks in nature, mainly consists of phenolic units, which enable the production of structurally diverse phenols. Given their remarkable applicability in the chemical value chain, many efforts have been devoted to increasing the molecular complexity of the phenolic scaffold. Among the key techniques, direct functionalization of Csp2-H is a powerful tool, enabling the construction of new Csp2-C bonds in an economical and atomic manner. Herein we present and summarize the large plethora of direct Csp2-H functionalization methods that enables scaffold diversification of simple, unprotected phenols, leading to the formation of new Csp2-C bonds. In this review article, we intend to summarize the contributions that appeared in the literature mainly in the last 5 years dealing with the functionalization of unprotected phenols, both catalytic and non-catalytic. Our goal is to highlight the key findings and the ongoing challenges in the stimulating and growing research dedicated to the development of new protocols for the valorization of phenols.

Pd-catalyzed Aerobic Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling of Catechols with 2-Oxindoles and Benzofuranones: Reactivity Difference Between Monomer and Dimer

Persistent radicals, which are generated from 2-oxindole or benzofuranone dimers, are useful tools for designing the radical-based cross-coupling reaction to provide molecules containing a quaternary carbon. The persistent radical is accessible from both the dimer and monomer; however, the reactivity difference between these substrates for the oxidative cross-coupling reaction is not fully understood, most likely because of the mechanistic complexity. Here, we present details of an aerobic cross-dehydrogenative coupling (CDC) reaction using various monomers and catechols. UV-Vis analysis and mechanistic control experiments showed that the monomer is less reactive than the dimer under aerobic conditions. Our Pd(II)-BINAP-μ-hydroxo complex significantly improved the reactivity of the monomers for the aerobic CDC reaction with catechols, yielding results comparable to those of the corresponding dimer. The procedure, which enables the generation of the persistent radical in situ, is particularly useful when employing the monomer that is not readily converted to the corresponding dimer.

Catalytic Oxidative Coupling of Phenols and Related Compounds

Phenols and their derivatives are the elementary building blocks for several classes of complex molecules that play essential roles in biological systems. Nature has devised methods to selectively couple phenolic compounds, and many efforts have been undertaken by chemists to mimic such coupling processes. A range of mechanisms can be involved and with well-studied catalysts, reaction outcomes in phenol-phenol oxidative coupling reactions can be predicted with a good level of fidelity. However, reactions with catalysts that have not been studied or that do not behave similarly to known catalysts can be hard to predict and control. This Perspective provides an overview of catalytic methods for the oxidative coupling of phenols, focusing on the last 10 years, and summarizes current challenges.

Oxindole synthesis via polar-radical crossover of ketene-derived amide enolates in a formal [3 + 2] cycloaddition

Herein we introduce a simple, efficient and transition-metal free method for the preparation of valuable and sterically hindered 3,3-disubstituted oxindoles via polar-radical crossover of ketene derived amide enolates. Various easily accessible N-alkyl and N-arylanilines are added to disubstituted ketenes and the resulting amide enolates undergo upon single electron transfer oxidation a homolytic aromatic substitution (HAS) to provide 3,3-disubstituted oxindoles in good to excellent yields. A variety of substituted anilines and a 3-amino pyridine engage in this oxidative formal [3 + 2] cycloaddition and cyclic ketenes provide spirooxindoles. Both substrates and reagents are readily available and tolerance to functional groups is broad.

Improved Method for Preparation of 3-(1H-Indol-3-yl)benzofuran-2(3H)-ones

3-(1H-Indol-3-yl)benzofuran-2(3H)-ones were efficiently accessed via polyphosphoric acid-mediated condensation of 3-(2-nitrovinyl)-1H-indoles with phenols.

Iron-Catalyzed Oxidative Cross-Coupling of Phenols and Tyrosine Derivatives with 3-Alkyloxindoles

In this study, a novel iron-catalyzed oxidative cross-coupling reaction between phenols and 3-alkyloxindole derivatives is reported. The efficient method, which is based on the FeCl₃ catalyst and the t-BuOOt-Bu oxidant in 1,2-dichloroethane at 70 °C, affords 3-alkyl-3-(hydroxyaryl)oxindole compounds with a high degree of selectivity. The generality of the conditions was proven by reacting various substituted phenols, naphthols, and tyrosine derivatives with 3-alkyloxindoles. To apply the chemistry for the conjugation of tyrosine-containing short peptides with oxindolylalanine (Oia) derivatives, the reaction conditions were modified [Fe(O₂CCF₃)₃ catalyst, t-BuOOt-Bu, HFIP, 70 °C], and amino acids with acid-stable N-protecting groups were used.

An Efficient Approach for 3,3-Disubstituted Oxindoles Synthesis: Aryl Iodine Catalyzed Intramolecular C-N Bond Oxidative Cross-Coupling

Herein, we report the first intramolecular C-N bond formation of phenylpropanamide derivatives via organocatalytic oxidative reactions, affording 3,3-disubstituted oxindole derivatives with up to 99% yield. The high efficiency of this reaction is exemplified by the transition metal-free mild conditions and the ability to perform the reaction on a gram scale. Meanwhile, the DFT calculation of the catalytic oxidative transformation pathway has also been studied.