An iron-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of a primary or secondary alkyl halide with an aryl Grignard reagent proceeds under mild conditions to give the corresponding coupling product in quantitative yield.

In the presence of novel iron(II) chloride-diphosphine complexes and magnesium bromide, lithium arylborates react with primary and secondary alkyl halides to give the corresponding coupling products in good to excellent yields. High functional group compatibility is also demonstrated in the reactions of substrates possessing reactive substituents, such as alkoxycarbonyl, cyano, and carbonyl groups.

A new reaction mechanism for the iron-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of ArMgX with alkyl halides using (TMEDA)FeAr(2) and (TMEDA)Fe(Ar)Br is proposed on the basis of the isolation and reaction of these organoiron intermediates.

Combinations of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) and fluoride salts of the iron-group metals (Fe, Co, and Ni) have been shown to be excellent catalysts for the cross-coupling reactions of aryl Grignard reagents (Ar(1)MgBr) with aryl and heteroaryl halides (Ar(2)X) to give unsymmetrical biaryls (Ar(1)-Ar(2)). Iron fluorides in combination with SIPr, a saturated NHC ligand, catalyze the biaryl cross-coupling between various aryl chlorides and aryl Grignard reagents in high yield and high selectivity. On the other hand, cobalt and nickel fluorides in combination with IPr, an unsaturated NHC ligand, exhibit interesting complementary reactivity in the coupling of aryl bromides or iodides; in contrast, with these substrates the iron catalysts show a lower selectivity. The formation of homocoupling byproducts is suppressed markedly to less than 5% in most cases by choosing the appropriate metal fluoride/NHC combination. The present catalyst combinations offer several synthetic advantages over existing methods: practical synthesis of a broad range of unsymmetrical biaryls without the use of palladium catalysts and phosphine ligands. On the basis of stoichiometric control experiments and theoretical studies, the origin of the unique catalytic effect of the fluoride counterion can be ascribed to the formation of a higher-valent heteroleptic metalate [Ar(1)MF(2)]MgBr as the key intermediate in our proposed catalytic cycle. First, stoichiometric control experiments revealed the stark differences in chemical reactivity between the metal fluorides and metal chlorides. Second, DFT calculations indicate that the initial reduction of di- or trivalent metal fluoride in the wake of transmetalation with PhMgCl is energetically unfavorable and that formation of a divalent heteroleptic metalate complex, [PhMF(2)]MgCl (M = Fe, Co, Ni), is dominant in the metal fluoride system. The heteroleptic ate-complex serves as a key reactive intermediate, which undergoes oxidative addition with PhCl and releases the biaryl cross-coupling product Ph-Ph with reasonable energy barriers. The present cross-coupling reaction catalyzed by iron-group metal fluorides and an NHC ligand provides a highly selective and practical method for the synthesis of unsymmetrical biaryls as well as the opportunity to gain new mechanistic insights into the metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions.

A tandem intramolecular electrophilic arene borylation reaction has been developed for the synthesis of BN-fused polycyclic aromatic compounds such as 4b-aza-12b-boradibenzo[g,p]chrysene (A) and 8b,11b-diaza-19b,22b-diborahexabenzo[a,c,fg,j,l,op]tetracene. These compounds adopt a twisted conformation, which results in a tight and offset face-to-face stacking array in the solid state. Time-resolved microwave conductivity measurements prove that the intrinsic hole mobility of A is comparable to that of rubrene, one of the most commonly used organic semiconductors, indicating that BN-substituted PAHs are potential candidates for organic electronic materials.

Azaboradibenzo[6]helicene, a new semiconductor material possessing helical chirality, has been synthesized via a tandem bora-Friedel-Crafts-type reaction. Unprecedented carrier inversion between the racemate (displaying p-type semiconductivity) and the single enantiomer (displaying n-type semiconductivity) was observed and can be explained by changes in the molecular packing induced by helical homochirality.

The first iron-catalyzed enantioselective cross-coupling reaction between an organometallic compound and an organic electrophile is reported. Synthetically versatile racemic α-chloro- and α-bromoalkanoates were coupled with aryl Grignard reagents in the presence of catalytic amounts of an iron salt and a chiral bisphosphine ligand, giving the products in high yields with acceptable and synthetically useful enantioselectivities (er up to 91:9). The produced α-arylalkanoates were readily converted to the corresponding α-arylalkanoic acids with high optical enrichment (er up to >99:1) via simple deprotections/recrystallizations. The results of radical probe experiments are consistent with a mechanism that involves the formation of an alkyl radical intermediate, which undergoes subsequent enantioconvergent arylation in an intermolecular manner. The developed asymmetric coupling offers not only facile and practical access to various chiral α-arylalkanoic acid derivatives, which are of significant pharmaceutical importance, but also a basis of controlling enantioselectivity in an iron-catalyzed organometallic transformation.

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