The functionalization of carbon-hydrogen bonds in non-nucleophilic substrates using α-carbonyl sulfoxonium ylides has not been so far investigated, despite the potential safety advantages that such reagents would provide over either diazo compounds or their in situ precursors. Described herein are the cross-coupling reactions of sulfoxonium ylides with C(sp )-H bonds of arenes and heteroarenes in the presence of a rhodium catalyst. The reaction proceeds by a succession of C-H activation, migratory insertion of the ylide into the carbon-metal bond, and protodemetalation, the last step being turnover-limiting. The method is applied to the synthesis of benz[c]acridines when allied to an iridium-catalyzed dehydrative cyclization.
The lack of general access to bis-substituted sulfoxonium ylides is addressed by developing a palladium-catalyzed C−H cross-coupling of α-ester sulfoxonium ylides with (hetero)aryl iodides, bromides, and triflates. Three different catalysts have been evaluated. This method is amenable to the late-stage functionalization of active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Despite recent advances, a general method for the synthesis of α-carbonyl-α'-(hetero)aryl sulfoxonium ylides is needed to benefit more greatly from the potential safety advantages offered by these compounds over the parent diazo compounds. Herein, we report the palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of aryl bromides and triflates with α-carbonyl sulfoxonium ylides. We also report the use of this method for the modification of an active pharmaceutical ingredient and to the synthesis of a key precursor of antagonists of the neurokinin-1 receptor. In 2 addition, the mechanism of the reaction was inferred from several observations. Thus, the oxidative addition complex [(XPhos)PhPdBr] and its dimer were observed by 31 P{ 1 H} NMR and these complexes were shown to be catalytically and kinetically competent. Moreover, a complex resulting from the transmetallation of [(XPhos)ArPdBr] (Ar = p-CF3-C6H4) with a model sulfoxonium ylide was observed by mass spectrometry. Finally, the partial rate law suggests that the transmetallation of and the subsequent deprotonation are rate-determining in the catalytic cycle.
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