Phenols, reaction with propiolic acids

The intermolecular reaction of phenols with propiolic esters occurs in the presence of a Pd(OAc)2 catalyst to afford coumarin derivatives directly.48,48a An exclusive formation of 5,6,7-trimethoxy-4-phenylcoumarin is observed in the Pd(OAc)2-catalyzed reaction of 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenol with ethyl phenylpropiolate in TFA (Equation (46)). Coumarin derivatives are obtained in high yields in the cases of electron-rich phenols, such as 3,4-methylenedioxyphenol, 3-methoxyphenol, 2-naphthol, and 3,5-dimethylphenol. A similar direct route to coumarin derivatives is accomplished by the reaction of phenols with propiolic acids (Equation (47)).49 A similar reaction proceeds in formic acid at room temperature for the synthesis of coumarins.50,50a Interestingly, Pd(0), rather than Pd(n), is involved in this reaction. 

The Pd-catalysed reaction of phenols with propynoic acids offers an atom-economic and green route to coumarins. Although the reaction with propynoic acid itself is not regioselective, 3-phenylpropynoic acid gives a single product from w-substituted phenols <04S1466>. The synthesis of coumarins both from alkynes, CO and iodophenols and by the reaction of phenols with propiolic esters is facilitated by Co/Rh nanoparticles <04SL2541>. 

The reaction of phenols having electron-donating groups with propiolic acids gives coumarin derivatives under similar conditions to those for Eq. 68 (Eq. 70) [159]. The same reaction has been found to occur using a Pd(0) species such as Pd2(dba)3 in formic acid [160]. In this case, different types of pallada-tion mechanism by hydridopalladium species have been proposed. 

M. Kotani, K. Yamamoto, J. Oyamada, Y. Fujiwara, T. Kitamura, A convenient s)mthesis of coumarins by palladium(ll)-catalyzed reaction of phenols with propiolic acids. Synthesis (2004) 1466-1470. 

Danishefsky has exploited his widely utilized silyloxydiene chemistry to complete a formal total synthesis of 90 (Scheme 1.20). By employing the appropriate oxidation levels for both the diene and dienophile, a resorcinyl ester possessing the required differentiation of the phenolic groups was obtained without further oxidative manipulation. To this end, the dianion of propiolic acid was alkylated with l-bromo-7-octene to give acid 98 in 68% yield. Further alkylation with methyl iodide then gave the ester 99. A Diels-Alder reaction with diene 100, a derivative of methyl acetoacetate, and alkyne 99 then furnished an initial phenolic intermediate which was protected as the benzyl ether to afford... 

Stork s strategy towards racemic morphine comprises a Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction of a benzofuran to establish the B- and C-ring of morphine as the key step [53]. The reaction sequence started with the ketahzation of iodoisovaniUin 97 (Scheme 15). Subsequently, the phenol was reacted with methyl propiolate to afford 98 as precursor for the installation of the benzofuran moiety via a palladium-catalyzed Heck cyclization (99). Next, the key intermediate was prepared for the Diels-Alder reaction. Hydrolysis of the acetal under acidic conditions and Wittig homologation afforded aldehyde 100, which was converted to diene 101 via hydrozirconation of acetylene 105 employing the Schwartz reagent and subsequent reaction with aldehyde 100 followed by sUylation of the secondary alcohol. 

In 1996, Trost and Toste reported a new synthetic method of coumarins by the Pd-catalyzed reaction of electron-rich phenol with propiolate 15 at room temperature using Pd2(dba)3 in formic acid. 2,5-Dimethoxycoumarin (26) was obtained from 3,5-dimethoxyphenol (25) [10]. On the other hand, Fujiwara carried out the... 

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