Halides, aryl reaction with active methylene compounds

Among common carbon-carbon bond formation reactions involving carbanionic species, the nucleophilic substitution of alkyl halides with active methylene compounds in the presence of a base, e. g., malonic and acetoacetic ester syntheses, is one of the most well documented important methods in organic synthesis. Ketone enolates and protected ones such as vinyl silyl ethers are also versatile nucleophiles for the reaction with various electrophiles including alkyl halides. On the other hand, for the reaction of aryl halides with such nucleophiles to proceed, photostimulation or addition of transition metal catalysts or promoters is usually required, unless the halides are activated by strong electron-withdrawing substituents [7]. Of the metal species, palladium has proved to be especially useful, while copper may also be used in some reactions [81. Thus, aryl halides can react with a variety of substrates having acidic C-H bonds under palladium catalysis. 

Coupling of aryl bromides with diethyl sodiomalonate. CuBr is the most effective Cu(I) catalyst for effecting coupling of aryl iodides or bromides with the sodium salts of active methylene compounds such as diethyl sodiomalonate. Coupling is facilitated by ori/io-substituents in the halide, particularly nitro, carbomethoxy, and methoxy groups.1 This reaction has been adapted to synthesis of benzofurane-2-ones.2... 

On the other hand, the direct arylation of carbanionic species generated from substrates having relatively acidic hydrogens such as active methylene compounds and ketones can occur (mechanism B) [5,6]. Aryl halides are also capable of coupling directly with appropriately functionalized aromatic substrates and five-membered heteroaromatic compounds as formal carbon nucleophiles via cleavage of their unactivated C-H bonds [5,7-9]. The Fujiwra-Moritani reaction, which is the arylation of alkenes with arenes, is also useful for preparing arylalkenes without employing any halides (mechanism D) [10,11]. 

Arylation of active methylene compounds has been carried out using Cu salts as promoters under severe conditions [2], Recently it was discovered that the reaction can be carried out much more smoothly using Pd catalysts. The first Pd-catalyzed intermolecular arylation of cyanoacetate and malononitrile with aryl iodides was carried out by Takahashi using PPhs as a ligand, and was applied to a simple synthesis of tetracyanoquinodimethane (2) by the reaction of p-diiodobenzene with malononitrile [3], The intramolecular arylation of malonates and -diketones with aryl iodides proceeds smoothly. Presence of a cyano group seemed to be important [4,5], The arylation has been successfully extended to halides of heterocycles, such as pyridine, quinoline and isoquinoline. The reaction of bromoxazole 3 with sulfone 4 is an example [6]. 

Abstract Although requiring the use of stoichiometric amounts of metal and harsh conditions, the copper-mediated coupling reactions of aryl halides with amines and phenols (Ullmann craidensatiOTis), amides and carbamates (Ullmann-Goldberg condensations), or activated methylene compounds (Ullmann-Hurtley condensations) have been for a long time useful methods for the formation of C(aryl)-N, C(aryl)-0, and C(aryl)-C bonds. In 2001, a renaissance of the Ullmann reaction has been initiated with the discovery of versatile new copper catalytic systems for C-C, C-N, or C-O coupling under mild temperature ccmditions. 

It is noted that the coupling of aryl halides, especially iodides, with a number of active methylene and methine compounds are promoted effectively by a stoichiometric amount of copper(I) halides [8, 37, 38]. The reaction using cy-anoacetate esters and 1,3-diketones can catalytically proceed [39-41]. 

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