No abstract

Thioethers have been proven to be reliable directing groups for palladium catalyzed alkenylation of arenes via C-H activation. Mechanistic investigation reveals that the C-H cleavage of arenes is the turnover-limiting step, and an acetate-bridged dinuclear cyclopalladation intermediate is involved. The alkenylated thioethers can be easily removed and transformed into a variety of useful groups.

Palladium-catalyzed C-H activation reactions directed by a removable 2-pyridylsulfinyl group were developed. Aromatic olefination products were formed in good yields on treatment of 2-(phenylsulfinyl)pyridines with alkenes in the presence of a Pd catalyst. The reaction tolerates a wide range of substituted alkenes, including various acrylates and styrenes. The controlled experiments indicated that the 2-pyridyl moiety, rather than the sulfinyl, played the role of ligand. The final reductive desulfonylation affords the stilbenes, sulfides, and disulfides with different reductive conditions, respectively. More importantly, this transformation could also be applied in arylation through dual C-H activation.

No abstract

A highly efficient protocol of copper catalysis for the one-pot synthesis of fused dibenzo[b,f][1,4]oxazepines is reported. The transformation involves a Smiles rearrangement, leading to the completely different regioselectivity from the classical cross-coupling. The easy reaction of aryl chlorides as substrates enhances the practical application of the methodology.