Electrochemical C-O and C-N Arylation using Alternating Polarity in Flow for Compound Libraries.

Etherification and amination of aryl halide scaffolds are commonly used reactions in parallel medicinal chemistry to rapidly scan structure-activity relationships with abundant building blocks. Electrochemical methods for aryl etherification and amination demonstrate broad functional group tolerance and extended nucleophile scope compared to traditional methods. Nevertheless, there is a need for robust and scale-transferable workflows for electrochemical compound library synthesis. Herein we describe a platform for automated electrochemical synthesis of C-X arylation (X = NH, OH) in flow to access compound libraries. A comprehensive Design of Experiment (DoE) study identifies an optimal protocol which generates high yields across > 30 aryl halide scaffolds, diverse amines (including electron-deficient sulfonamides, sulfoximines, amides, and anilines) and alcohols (including serine residues within peptides). Reaction sequences are automated on commercially available equipment to generate libraries of anilines and aryl ethers. The unprecedented application of potentiostatic alternating polarity in flow is essential to avoid accumulating electrode passivation. Moreover, it enables reactions to be performed in air, without supporting electrolyte and with high reproducibility over consecutive runs. Our method represents a powerful means to rapidly generate nucleophile independent C-X arylation compound libraries using flow electrochemistry.

Ruthenium-Catalyzed Reductive Arylation of N-(2-Pyridinyl)amides with Isopropanol and Arylboronate Esters.

A new three-component reductive arylation of amides with stable reactants (iPrOH and arylboronate esters), making use of a 2-pyridinyl (Py) directing group, is described. The N-Py-amide substrates are readily prepared from carboxylic acids and PyNH2 , and the resulting N-Py-1-arylalkanamine reaction products are easily transformed into the corresponding chlorides by substitution of the HN-Py group with HCl. The 1-aryl-1-chloroalkane products allow substitution and cross-coupling reactions. Therefore, a general protocol for the transformation of carboxylic acids into a variety of functionalities is obtained. The Py-NH2 by-product can be recycled.

3-Substituted 2-isocyanopyridines as versatile convertible isocyanides for peptidomimetic design.

We report the use of 3-substituted 2-isocyanopyridines as convertible isocyanides in Ugi four-component reactions. The N-(3-substituted pyridin-2-yl)amide Ugi products can be cleaved by amines, alcohols, and water with Zn(OAc)2 as a catalyst. In addition, the applicability of the method was demonstrated in constrained di-/tripeptides bearing acid and base sensitive protective groups obtained via Ugi-4CR post-condensation modifications.

Carbamate Synthesis Using a Shelf-Stable and Renewable C1 Reactant.

4-Propylcatechol carbonate is a shelf-stable, renewable C1 reactant. It is easily prepared from renewable 4-propylcatechol (derived from wood) and dimethyl carbonate (derived from CO2 ) using a reactive distillation system. In this work, the 4-propylcatechol carbonate is used for the two-step synthesis of carbamates under mild reaction conditions. In the first step, 4-propylcatechol carbonate is treated with an alcohol at 50-80 °C in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst, such as Zn(OAc)2 ⋅2 H2 O. With liquid alcohols, no solvent is used and with solid alcohols 2-methyltetrahydrofuran is used as solvent. In the second step, the alkyl 2-hydroxy-propylphenyl carbonate intermediates obtained react with amines at room temperature in 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, forming the target carbamates and the byproduct 4-propylcatechol, which can be recycled into a carbonate reactant.

Alkylsulfuric acid ionic liquids: a promising class of strongly acidic room-temperature ionic liquids.

Strongly acidic (pKa ≈ -3.5) room-temperature ionic liquids (ILs) with -OSO3H functionalized cations are introduced. The strong acidity, easy synthesis, and better physical properties of these R-OSO3H ILs make them excellent alternatives to the well-known sulfonic acid (R-SO3H) ILs, especially in the domain of metal processing.

New metal extractants and super-acidic ionic liquids derived from sulfamic acid.

Sulfamic acid (NH3-SO3) is an acidic zwitterion with many applications. N-Alkylated derivatives are introduced, which can be used as a new class of metal extractants R2NH-SO3 and as new super-acidic ionic liquids [R2NH-SO3H][Tf2N]. The synthesis, properties and novel applications of this versatile platform are discussed.