Oxazole 4.5- diaryl-, oxidation

Arylation of Thiazoles and Oxazoles. The protocol that was previously developed for the C-H activation of azine and diazine (V-oxides with aryl triflates was used to effect the arylation of flve-membered ring heterocycles, such as oxazoles and thiazoles. In contrast to another protocol that was previously reported by the same group, the transformation did not require an V-oxide function. However, in order to direct the arylation at the C4-position, to prevent the formation of a mixture of regioisomers, and to minimize the generation of diarylated products, a C5-chloride was used as a blocking group. The procedure, which is promoted by palladium acetate and di-tert-butyl(methyl)phosphonium tetrafluoroborate, uses an aryl bromide as the electrophile. 

Low yields were obtained in the absence of pivalic acid however, employing greater than 30% pivalic acid did not further improve yields or reactivity. Substrates that performed well included C3-substituted benzothiophenes, C2-substituted thiophenes, pyrroles, imidazole, triazole, imidazopyridine, thiazole, and oxazoles, which could be efficiently arylated with aryl bromides. Unfortunately, benzofuran produced low yields (29% with 2-bromotoluene), and furans encountered issues with diarylation, which could be minimized by using more sterically hindered aryl bromides. Arylation of indolizines could be achieved, albeit electron-deficient aryl bromides required longer reaction times (16-24 h). Heterocyclic aryl bromides, such as 3-bromopyridine, could also be employed with thiazole. Problematic aryl halides included cyano, nitro, acetyl, pyridyl functionalities, and N-heterocyclic V-oxides. Other coupling partners, such as aryl tri-flates and aryl chlorides, performed poorly under the reaction conditions. Unsuitable heterocycles included unprotected imidazoles, 2-aminothiazole, isoxazole, benzothiazole, and benzoxa-zole, which failed to produce arylated products. 

From Table 1, below, no signs of thermal decomposition were observed below 400 °C for nitrile and sulfonyl substituted di-and triaryl oxazoles. Nitro compounds, in contrast, exhibited marked thermal decomposition exotherms with decomposition onset temperatures of 360-365 °C, conditions only marginally compatible with polyimide curing conditions. Nitro aromatics are also oxidants which may lead to long-term stability problems. As a result of these experiments nitrile and sulfonyl substituted diaryl oxazoles were selected for polymer doping studies. 

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