The development of general and more atom-economical catalytic processes for Friedel-Crafts alkylations of unactivated arenes is an important objective of interest for the production of pharmaceuticals and commodity chemicals. Ferroceniumboronic acid hexafluoroantimonate salt (1) was identified as a superior air- and moisture-tolerant catalyst for direct Friedel-Crafts alkylations of a variety of slightly activated and neutral arenes with stable and readily available primary and secondary benzylic alcohols. Compared to the use of classical metal-catalyzed alkylations with toxic benzylic halides, this methodology employs exceptionally mild conditions to provide a wide variety of unsymmetrical diarylmethanes and other 1,1-diarylalkane products in high yield with good to high regioselectivity. The optimal method, using the bench-stable ferroceniumboronic acid salt 1 in hexafluoroisopropanol as cosolvent, displays a broader scope compared to previously reported catalysts for similar Friedel-Crafts reactions of benzylic alcohols, including other boronic acids such as 2,3,4,5-tetrafluorophenylboronic acid. The efficacy of the new boronic acid catalyst was confirmed by its ability to activate primary benzylic alcohols functionalized with destabilizing electron-withdrawing groups like halides, carboxyesters, and nitro substituents. Arene benzylation was demonstrated on a gram scale at up to 1 M concentration with catalyst recovery. Mechanistic studies point toward the importance of the ionic nature of the catalyst and suggest that factors other than the Lewis acidity (pKa) of the boronic acid are at play. A SN1 mechanism is proposed where ion exchange within the initial boronate anion affords a more reactive carbocation paired with the non-nucleophilic hexafluoroantimonate counteranion.

Catalytic activation of hydroxyl functionalities is of great interest for the production of pharmaceuticals and commodity chemicals. Here, 2-alkoxycarbonyl- and 2-phenoxycarbonyl-phenylboronic acid were identified as efficient catalysts for the direct and chemoselective activation of oxime N-OH bonds in the Beckmann rearrangement. This classical organic reaction provides a unique approach to prepare functionalized amide products that may be difficult to access using traditional amide coupling between carboxylic acids and amines. Using only 5 mol % of boronic acid catalyst and perfluoropinacol as an additive in a polar solvent mixture, the operationally simple protocol features mild conditions, a broad substrate scope, and a high functional group tolerance. A wide variety of diaryl, aryl-alkyl, heteroaryl-alkyl, and dialkyl oximes react under ambient conditions to afford high yields of amide products. Free alcohols, amides, carboxyesters, and many other functionalities are compatible with the reaction conditions. Investigations of the catalytic cycle revealed a novel boron-induced oxime transesterification providing an acyl oxime intermediate involved in a fully catalytic nonself-propagating Beckmann rearrangement mechanism. The acyl oxime intermediate was prepared independently and was subjected to the reaction conditions. It was found to be self-sufficient; it reacts rapidly, unimolecularly without the need for free oxime. A series of control experiments and O labeling studies support a true catalytic pathway involving an ionic transition structure with an active and essential role for the boronyl moiety in both steps of transesterification and rearrangement. According toB NMR spectroscopic studies, the additive perfluoropinacol provides a transient, electrophilic boronic ester that is thought to serve as an internal Lewis acid to activate the ortho-carboxyester and accelerate the initial, rate-limiting step of transesterification between the precatalyst and the oxime substrate.

A ferrocenium boronic acid salt activates allylic alcohols to generate transient carbocations that react with in situ-generated chiral enamines from branched aldehydes. The optimized conditions afford the desired acyclic products embedding a methyl-aryl quaternary carbon center with up to 90% yield and 97:3 enantiomeric ratio, with only water as the byproduct. This noble-metal-free method complements alternative methods that are incompatible with carbon-halogen bonds and other sensitive functional groups.

The development of more general and efficient catalytic processes for Friedel-Crafts alkylations is an important objective of interest toward the production of pharmaceuticals and commodity chemicals. Herein, 2,3,4,5-tetrafluorophenylboronic acid was identified as a potent air- and moisture-tolerant metal-free catalyst that significantly improves the scope of direct Friedel-Crafts alkylations of a variety of slightly activated and neutral arenes, including polyarenes, with allylic and benzylic alcohols. This method also provides a simple alternative for the direct installation of prenyl units commonly found in naturally occurring arenes. Alkylations with benzylic alcohols occur under exceptionally mild conditions.

A nonthermodynamic array of four skipped methylene substituents on the hydrophobic tail renders limaol, a C40-polyketide of marine origin, unique in structural terms. This conspicuous segment was assembled by a two-directional approach and finally coupled to the polyether domain by an allyl/alkenyl Stille reaction under neutral conditions. The core region itself was prepared via a 3,3′-dibromo-BINOL-catalyzed asymmetric propargylation, a gold-catalyzed spirocyclization, and introduction of the southern sector via substrate-controlled allylation as the key steps.