Sodiation of Arenes and Heteroarenes in Continuous Flow.

The first sodiations of (hetero)arenes in continuous flow using NaDA (sodium diisopropylamide) in Me2 EtN are reported. This flow procedure enables sodiation of functionalized arenes and heteroarenes that decompose under batch-sodiation conditions. The resulting sodiated (hetero)arenes react instantly with various electrophiles, such as ketones, aldehydes, isocyanates, alkyl bromides, and disulfides, affording polyfunctionalized (hetero)arenes in high yields. Scale-up is possible without further optimization.

Synthesis of Polyfunctional Diorganomagnesium and Diorganozinc Reagents through In Situ Trapping Halogen-Lithium Exchange of Highly Functionalized (Hetero)aryl Halides in Continuous Flow.

We report a halogen-lithium exchange performed in the presence of various metal salts (ZnCl2 , MgCl2 ⋅LiCl) on a broad range of sensitive bromo- or iodo(hetero)arenes using BuLi or PhLi as the exchange reagent and a commercially available continuous-flow setup. The resulting diarylmagnesium or diarylzinc species were trapped with various electrophiles, resulting in the formation of polyfunctional (hetero)arenes in high yields. This method enables the functionalization of (hetero)arenes containing highly sensitive groups such as an isothiocyanate, nitro, azide, or ester. A straightforward scale-up was possible without further optimization.

Selective Lithiation, Magnesiation, and Zincation of Unsymmetrical Azobenzenes Using Continuous Flow.

A mild and general set of metalation procedures for the functionalization of unsymmetrical azobenzenes using a commercially available continuous-flow setup is reported. The metalations proceed with TMPLi under convenient conditions (0 °C, 20 s), and various classes of electrophiles can be used. With sensitive substrates, an in situ trapping metalation in which TMPLi is added to a mixture of the azobenzene and ZnCl2 or MgCl2·LiCl was very effective for achieving high yields.

Continuous Flow Magnesiation or Zincation of Acrylonitriles, Acrylates, and Nitroolefins. Application to the Synthesis of Butenolides.

Scalable continuous flow procedures are reported for the metalation and downstream functionalization of ß-substituted acrylates. The flow conditions allow the metalation of acrylonitriles, acrylates, and nitroolefins at 0.25-2.50 mmol/min conversion rates. Magnesiations can be performed with short residence times (1-20 min) and near-ambient temperature using TMPMgCl·LiCl. Further, high temperature zincation (≤90 °C) using TMPZnCl·LiCl is possible. This method allows a simple entry to 2(5H)-furanones by flow generation of magnesiated acrylates and a subsequent reaction with aldehydes.