. (2015). Arsenous chloride-free synthesis of cyclic tertiary organoarsines from arylarsine oxides and di-Grignard reagents. Journal of Organometallic Chemistry, 785 77-83.Arsenous chloride-free synthesis of cyclic tertiary organoarsines from arylarsine oxides and di-Grignard reagents
AbstractThe growing importance of triarylarsines as ligands for transition metal catalysis has sparked recent interest in new synthetic routes to tertiary arsines that avoid hazardous arsenous chloride reagents. However, safer methods for the synthesis of lesser explored arsine heterocycles, especially those containing As-C(sp3) bonds, remain lacking. We demonstrate for the first time that bench stable, less hazardous, arylarsine(III) oxides are effective substitutes for their corresponding chlorides in the one-pot construction of cyclic tertiary organoarsines from di-Grignard reagents. Several known and novel heterocycles have been prepared in reasonable yields, accommodating variations in both the diorganomagnesium reagent and electrophile, making this a modular approach to cyclic arsine assembly.
Graphical Abstract AbstractThe growing importance of triarylarsines as ligands for transition metal catalysis has sparked recent interest in new synthetic routes to tertiary arsines that avoid hazardous arsenous chloride reagents. However, safer methods for the synthesis of lesser explored arsine heterocycles, especially those containing As−C(sp 3 ) bonds, remain lacking. We demonstrate for the first time that bench stable, less hazardous, arylarsine(III) oxides are effective substitutes for their corresponding chlorides in the one-pot construction of cyclic tertiary organoarsines from di-Grignard reagents. Several known and novel heterocycles have been prepared in reasonable yields, accommodating variations in both the diorganomagnesium reagent and electrophile, making this a modular approach to cyclic arsine assembly.
Keywords: Arsine oxides, Grignard reagents, Heterocycles, Organoarsines, Ligands
IntroductionOrganoarsines have found application in coordination chemistry [1], materials science [2] and recently in chemotherapy as potential drug delivery and anti-cancer agents [3]. Triaryl arsines in particular are now well established as valuable ligands for transition metal catalysis, demonstrating superiority to analogous phosphines in many cases [4]. Although tertiary organoarsines are traditionally prepared via the combination of arsenic chlorides (or other halides) with organometallic reagents or nucleophilic arenes, a major drawback to this approach is the inherent toxicity associated with the As−Cl bond [5]. It is well known that arsenic compounds (or metabolites thereof) generally exhibit toxicity [6], however, most arsenous chlorides are additionally characterized by alarming acute effects based on their rapid in vivo covalent binding to thiol-containing enzymes and proteins [7]. These hazards are exacerbated by the often semi-volatility of arsenous(III) chlorides, which have historically been exploited as blistering and vom...