Halides, aryl reaction with aromatic compounds

As described in Section III.1.4.1.1, the catalytic direct arylation reactions of aromatic compounds occurs effectively via C-H bond cleavage when the substrates are appropriately functionalized. On the other hand, various five-membered heteroaromatic compounds involving one or two heteroatoms, even without a functional group, are known to undergo arylation, usually at their 2- and/or 5-posi-tion(s), on treatment with aryl halides under the action of palladium catalysis. The coupling has recently been developed significantly [1, 2]. Representative examples with some mechanistic discussion are summarized in this section. 

Arylation of C-H bonds is achieved by coupling reactions of C-H bonds with aromatic compounds such as halides, triflates, and organometallic reagents. Early works in this field involve the reaction of aryl halides with norbornene. As shown in Scheme 5, the coupling reaction of bromobenzene with norbornene in the presence of Pd(PPh3)4 as a... 

With the development of the cross coupling methodology, many 6-C-substituted purines have been prepared in the past decade. Thus, 6 halopurine derivatives react with arylmagnesium halides,25 alkyl(aryl)zinc or tin reagents,26 trialkylaluminum,27 or alkylcuprates28 to give the 6-alkylpurine derivatives. Also a reverse approach based on the reaction of purine-6-zinc iodide with aryl or vinyl halides has recently been described.29 For the synthesis of 6-arylpurines, an alternative approach makes use of radical photochemical reactions of adenine derivatives with aromatic compounds,30 but this method is very unselective and for substituted benzenes, mixtures of ortho-, meta-, and para substituted derivatives were obtained. 

In contrast to facile reactions of aryl halides with alkenes and alkynes, reactions of aromatic compounds with aryl halides have received less attention. Only intramolecular arylation of benzene derivatives, except phenols, is known [1]. On the other hand, electron-rich heterocycles such as ffirans, thiophenes, pyrroles, oxa-zoles, imidazoles, and thiazoles undergo facile inter- and intramolecular arylation with aryl halides. These are called heteroaryl Heck reactions [2]. 

The reactions of the second class are carried out by the reaction of oxidized forms[l] of alkenes and aromatic compounds (typically their halides) with Pd(0) complexes, and the reactions proceed catalytically. The oxidative addition of alkenyl and aryl halides to Pd(0) generates Pd(II)—C a-hondi (27 and 28), which undergo several further transformations. 

The most common types of aryl halides in nucleophilic aromatic substitutions are those that bear- o- or p-nitro substituents. Among other classes of reactive aryl halides, a few merit special consideration. One class includes highly fluorinated aromatic compounds such as hexafluorobenzene, which undergoes substitution of one of its fluorines on reaction with nucleophiles such as sodium methoxide. 

Diaryl sulfones can be formed by treatment of aromatic compounds with aryl sulfonyl chlorides and a Friedel-Crafts catalyst. This reaction is analogous to Friedel-Crafts acylation with carboxylic acid halides (11-14). In a better procedure, the aromatic compound is treated with an aryl sulfonic acid and P2O5 in polypho-sphoric acid. Still another method uses an arylsulfonic trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride (ArS020S02CF3) (generated in situ from ArS02Br and CF3S03Ag) without a catalyst. ... 

Trimethylgermyl substituents in aromatic compounds are easily removed with halogen, yielding the corresponding aryl halide, as shown in reaction 8119. Another example of phenyl group displacement was carried out with bromine as in reaction 2 (see end of Table 2)64. 

Tertiary benzylic nitriles are useful synthetic intermediates, and have been used for the preparation of amidines, lactones, primary amines, pyridines, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, and esters. The general synthetic pathway to this class of compounds relies on the displacement of an activated benzylic alcohol or benzylic halide with a cyanide source followed by double alkylation under basic conditions. For instance, 2-(2-methoxyphenyl)-2-methylpropionitrile has been prepared by methylation of (2-methoxyphenyl)acetonitrile using sodium amide and iodomethane. In the course of the preparation of a drug candidate, the submitters discovered that the nucleophilic aromatic substitution of aryl fluorides with the anion of a secondary nitrile is an effective method for the preparation of these compounds. The reaction was studied using isobutyronitrile and 2-fluoroanisole. The submitters first showed that KHMDS was the superior base for the process when carried out in either THF or toluene (Table I). For example, they found that the preparation of 2-(2-methoxyphenyl)-2-methylpropionitrile could be accomplished h... 

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