Dehydrative thiolation of allenols: indium vs gold catalysis

Deciphering the Chameleonic Chemistry of Allenols: Breaking the Taboo of a Onetime Esoteric Functionality

The allene functionality has participated in one of the most exciting voyages in organic chemistry, from chemical curiosities to a recurring building block in modern organic chemistry. In the last decades, a special kind of allene, namely, allenol, has emerged. Allenols, formed by an allene moiety and a hydroxyl functional group with diverse connectivity, have become common building blocks for the synthesis of a wide range of structures and frequent motif in naturally occurring systems. The synergistic effect of the allene and hydroxyl functional groups enables allenols to be considered as a unique and sole functionality exhibiting a special reactivity. This Review summarizes the most significant contributions to the chemistry of allenols that appeared during the past decade, with emphasis on their synthesis, reactivity, and occurrence in natural products.

Palladium-catalyzed C-P cross-coupling of allenic alcohols with H-phosphonates leading to 2-phosphinoyl-1,3-butadienes

The first facile, efficient, atom-economical and regioselective palladium-catalyzed direct C-P cross-coupling of unprotected allenic alcohols with H-phosphonates for the one-pot synthesis of structurally diverse multisubstituted 2-phosphinoyl-1,3-butadienes was developed. This strategy would enrich the allene chemistry and afford new scaffolds to construct complex molecular skeletons.

Modern Synthetic Methods for the Stereoselective Construction of 1,3-Dienes

The 1,3-butadiene motif is widely found in many natural products and drug candidates with relevant biological activities. Moreover, dienes are important targets for synthetic chemists, due to their ability to give access to a wide range of functional group transformations, including a broad range of C-C bond-forming processes. Therefore, the stereoselective preparation of dienes have attracted much attention over the past decades, and the search for new synthetic protocols continues unabated. The aim of this review is to give an overview of the diverse methodologies that have emerged in the last decade, with a focus on the synthetic processes that meet the requirements of efficiency and sustainability of modern organic chemistry.

K2S2O8 promoted dehydrative cross-coupling between α,α-disubstituted allylic alcohols and thiophenols/thiols

K₂S₂O₈ promoted dehydrative cross-coupling between α,α-disubstituted allylic alcohols and thiophenols/thiols is demonstrated for the first time, leading to a wide range of allyl sulfides in good to high yields.

Tunable Synthesis of 2-Ene-1,4-diones, 4-Hydroxycyclopent-2-en-1-ones, and 2-(Furan-3-yl)acetamides via Palladium-Catalyzed Cascade Reactions of Allenols

An efficient and regioselective synthesis of 2-ene-1,4-diones, 4-hydroxycyclopent-2-en-1-ones, or 2-(furan-3-yl)acetamides is successfully realized through palladium-catalyzed one-pot multicomponent reactions of allenols with aryl iodides and carbon monoxide in the presence of tertiary amines. Interestingly, the selectivity depends on the substitution patterns of the allenol substrates. To be specific, from the reaction of allenols with no substituent attached on the internal position of the allenic moiety, 2-ene-1,4-diones or 4-hydroxycyclopent-2-en-1-ones were formed selectively through carbonylation of aryl iodide followed by acylation of allenol with the in situ formed acyl palladium species, β-hydride elimination of the in situ formed allyl palladium complex, and further tautomerization or intramolecular aldol reaction. From the reaction of allenols bearing a substituent at the internal position of the allenic unit, on the other hand, diversely substituted 2-(furan-3-yl)acetamides were formed through a cascade process combining carbonylation of aryl iodide, acylation, and carbonylation of allenol followed by intramolecular condensation and amination by tertiary amine featuring an oxidant-free C-N bond cleavage.

Indium(iii) as π-acid catalyst for the electrophilic activation of carbon–carbon unsaturated systems

This review focuses on indium(iii) as a π-acid for the activation of C–C unsaturated systems (alkynes, alkenes, and allenes) in organic synthesis.

Rapid Iododeboronation with and without Gold Catalysis: Application to Radiolabelling of Arenes

Radiopharmaceuticals that incorporate radioactive iodine in combination with single‐photon emission computed tomography imaging play a key role in nuclear medicine, with applications in drug development and disease diagnosis. Despite this importance, there are relatively few general methods for the incorporation of radioiodine into small molecules. This work reports a rapid air‐ and moisture‐stable ipso‐iododeboronation procedure that uses NIS in the non‐toxic, green solvent dimethyl carbonate. The fast reaction and mild conditions of the gold‐catalysed method led to the development of a highly efficient process for the radiolabelling of arenes, which constitutes the first example of an application of homogenous gold catalysis to selective radiosynthesis. This was exemplified by the efficient synthesis of radiolabelled meta‐[¹²⁵I]iodobenzylguanidine, a radiopharmaceutical that is used for the imaging and therapy of human norepinephrine transporter‐expressing tumours.

[3,3]-Sigmatropic rearrangement of allenic alcohols: stereoselective synthesis of 1,3-diene-2-ol sulfonates

An efficient synthetic pathway to 1,3-diene-2-ol sulfonates involving the [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of allenic alcohols with sulfonic acids under mild reaction conditions is described. These products can easily undergo reduction or transition-metal catalyzed cross-coupling reactions to yield a series of stereodefined multisubstituted 1,3-dienes.

Cu-Catalyzed hydrophosphorylative ring opening of propargyl epoxides: highly selective access to 4-phosphoryl 2,3-allenols

A CuI-catalyzed cross-coupling of propargyl epoxides with P(O)H compounds to produce 4-phosphoryl 2,3-allenols with excellent selectivity under mild conditions is disclosed.

Gold and silver catalysis: from organic transformation to bioconjugation

A summary of gold (including AuNPs, Au(i) and Au(iii) complexes) and silver(i) catalysis and their application in bioconjugation reactions.