Electrophilic C(sp2)-H Cyanation with Inorganic Cyanate (OCN-) by PIII/PV=O-Catalyzed Phase Transfer Activation.

An organophosphorus -catalyzed method for the direct electrophilic cyanation of C(sp2)-H nucleophiles with sodium cyanate (NaOCN) is reported. The catalytic deoxyfunctionalization of the OCN- anion is enabled by the use of a small-ring phosphacyclic (phosphetane) catalyst in combination with a terminal hydrosilane O-atom acceptor and a malonate-derived bromenium donor. In situ spectroscopy under single-turnover conditions demonstrate that insoluble inorganic cyanate anion is activated by bromide displacement on a bromophosphonium catalytic intermediate to give a reactive N-bound isocyanatophosphonium ion, which delivers electrophilic "CN+" equivalents to nucleophilic (hetero)arenes and alkenes with loss of a phosphine oxide. These results demonstrate the feasibility of deoxyfunctionalization of insoluble inorganic salts by PIII/PV=O catalyzed phase transfer activation.

Reversible Oxidative Addition of Nonactivated C-H Bonds to Structurally Constrained Phosphenium Ions.

A series of structurally constrained phosphenium ions based on pyridinylmethylamidophenolate scaffolds are shown to undergo P(III)/P(V) oxidative addition with C-H bonds of alkynes, alkenes, and arenes. Nonactivated substrates such as benzene, toluene, and deactivated chlorobenzene are phosphorylated in quantitative yields. Computational and spectroscopic studies suggest a low-barrier isomerization from a bent to a T-shaped isomer that initiates a phosphorus-ligand-cooperative pathway and subsequent ring-chain tautomerism. Remarkably, C-H bond activations occur reversibly, allowing for reductive elimination back to P(III) at elevated temperatures or the exchange with other substrates.

Tandem C/N-Difunctionalization of Nitroarenes: Reductive Amination and Annulation by a Ring Expansion/Contraction Sequence.

A synthetic method for the reductive transformation of nitroarenes into ortho-aminated and -annulated products is reported. The method operates via the exhaustive deoxygenation of nitroarenes by an organophosphorus catalyst and a mild terminal reductant to access aryl nitrenes, which after ring expansion, are trapped by amine nucleophiles to give dearomatized 2-amino-3H-azepines. Treatment of these ring-expanded intermediates with acyl electrophiles triggers 6π electrocyclization to extrude the nitrogen atom and restore aromaticity of the phenyl ring, which delivers via C-H functionalization 2-aminoanilide and benzimidazole products.

Deoxyfluorination of 1°, 2°, and 3° Alcohols by Nonbasic O-H Activation and Lewis Acid-Catalyzed Fluoride Shuttling.

A method for deoxyfluorination of aliphatic primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols is reported, employing a nontrigonal phosphorus triamide for base-free alcohol activation in conjunction with an organic soluble fluoride donor and a triarylborane fluoride shuttling catalyst. Mechanistic experiments are consistent with a reaction that proceeds by the collapse of an oxyphosphonium fluoroborate ion pair with fluoride transfer. The substrate scope complements existing deoxyfluorination methods and enables the preparation of homochiral secondary and tertiary alkylfluorides by stereoinversion of the substrate alcohol.

Chemoselective Primary Amination of Aryl Boronic Acids by PIII/PV═O-Catalysis: Synthetic Capture of the Transient Nef Intermediate HNO.

A catalytic approach to intercept the transient HNO for a chemoselective primary amination of arylboronic acids is reported. A phosphetane-based catalyst operating within PIII/PV═O redox cycling is shown to capture HNO, generated in situ by Nef decomposition of 2-nitropropane, to selectively install the primary amino group at aryl Csp2 centers. The method furnishes versatile primary arylamines from arylboronic acid substrates with the preservation of otherwise reactive functional groups.

Two-Site O-H Addition to an Iridium Complex Featuring a Nonspectator Tricoordinate Phosphorus Ligand.

The synthesis and reactivity of an ambiphilic iridium complex IrCl(PPh3)(L1) (1; L1 = P(N(o-N(2-pyridyl)C6H4)2)) featuring a chelating nontrigonal phosphorus triamide ligand is reported. The tandem Lewis basic Ir and Lewis acidic P of 1 achieve a two-site oxidative addition of phenol giving the iridaphenoxyphosphorane species IrHCl(PPh3)(L1OPh) (3'). In contrast, reactions of 1 with benzenethiol and benzeneselenol do not engage L1 and instead proceed via metal-centered oxidative addition of the chalcogen-hydrogen bond. These findings establish metal-ligand cooperation involving nonspectator reactivity of tricoordinate phosphorus ligands.

Enabling Reductive C-N Cross-Coupling of Nitroalkanes and Boronic Acids by Steric Design of P(III)/P(V)═O Catalysts.

An organophosphorus-catalyzed C-N bond-forming reductive coupling of nitroalkanes with arylboronic acids and esters is reported. The method shows excellent chemoselectivity for the nitro/boronic acid substrate pair, allowing the synthesis of N-(hetero)arylamines rich in functionalization. The identification of a sterically reduced phosphetane catalyst capable of productive coupling in the P(III)/P(V)═O redox manifold is the key enabling development. Combined experimental kinetics and computational mechanistic studies show that the sterically reduced catalyst affects post-rate-limiting steps to enable the C-N coupling event in preference to deleterious side-paths.

Metal-Ligand Role Reversal: Hydride-Transfer Catalysis by a Functional Phosphorus Ligand with a Spectator Metal.

Hydride transfer catalysis is shown to be enabled by the nonspectator reactivity of a transition metal-bound low-symmetry tricoordinate phosphorus ligand. Complex 1·[Ru]+, comprising a nontrigonal phosphorus chelate (1, P(N(o-N(2-pyridyl)C6H4)2) and an inert metal fragment ([Ru] = (Me5C5)Ru), reacts with NaBH4 to give a metallohydridophosphorane (1H·[Ru]) by P-H bond formation. Complex 1H·[Ru] is revealed to be a potent hydride donor (ΔG°H-,exp < 41 kcal/mol, ΔG°H-,calc = 38 ± 2 kcal/mol in MeCN). Taken together, the reactivity of the 1·[Ru]+/1H·[Ru] pair comprises a catalytic couple, enabling catalytic hydrodechlorination in which phosphorus is the sole reactive site of hydride transfer.

Uniting Amide Synthesis and Activation by PIII/PV-Catalyzed Serial Condensation: Three-Component Assembly of 2-Amidopyridines.

An organophosphorus (PIII/PV redox) catalyzed method for the three-component condensation of amines, carboxylic acids, and pyridine N-oxides to generate 2-amidopyridines via serial dehydration is reported. Whereas amide synthesis and functionalization usually occur under divergent reaction conditions, here a phosphetane catalyst (together with a mild bromenium oxidant and terminal hydrosilane reductant) is shown to drive both steps chemoselectively in an auto-tandem catalytic cascade. The ability to both prepare and functionalize amides under the action of a single organocatalytic reactive intermediate enables new possibilities for the efficient and modular preparation of medicinal targets.

PIII/PV═O-Catalyzed Intermolecular N-N Bond Formation: Cross-Selective Reductive Coupling of Nitroarenes and Anilines.

An organophosphorus-catalyzed method for the synthesis of unsymmetrical hydrazines by cross-selective intermolecular N-N reductive coupling is reported. This method employs a small ring phosphacycle (phosphetane) catalyst together with hydrosilane as the terminal reductant to drive reductive coupling of nitroarenes and anilines with good chemoselectivity and functional group tolerance. Mechanistic investigations support an autotandem catalytic reaction cascade in which the organophosphorus catalyst drives two sequential and mechanistically distinct reduction events via PIII/PV═O cycling in order to furnish the target N-N bond.

Main Group Redox Catalysis of Organopnictogens: Vertical Periodic Trends and Emerging Opportunities in Group 15.

A growing number of organopnictogen redox catalytic methods have emerged-especially within the past 10 years-that leverage the plentiful reversible two-electron redox chemistry within Group 15. The goal of this Perspective is to provide readers the context to understand the dramatic developments in organopnictogen catalysis over the past decade with an eye toward future development. An exposition of the fundamental differences in the atomic structure and bonding of the pnictogens, and thus the molecular electronic structure of organopnictogen compounds, is presented to establish the backdrop against which organopnictogen redox reactivity-and ultimately catalysis-is framed. A deep appreciation of these underlying periodic principles informs an understanding of the differing modes of organopnictogen redox catalysis and evokes the key challenges to the field moving forward. We close by addressing forward-looking directions likely to animate this area in the years to come. What new catalytic manifolds can be developed through creative catalyst and reaction design that take advantage of the intrinsic redox reactivity of the pnictogens to drive new discoveries in catalysis?

Round-Trip Oxidative Addition, Ligand Metathesis, and Reductive Elimination in a PIII/PV Synthetic Cycle.

A synthetic cycle for aryl C-F substitution comprising oxidative addition, ligand metathesis, and reductive elimination at a Cs-symmetric phosphorus triamide (1, P{N[o-NMe-C6H4]2}) is reported. Reaction of 1 with perfluoroarenes (ArF-F) results in C-F oxidative addition, yielding fluorophosphoranes 1·[F][ArF]. The P-fluoro substituent is exchanged for hydride by treatment with DIBAL-H, generating hydridophosphoranes 1·[H][ArF]. Heating of 1·[H][ArF] regenerates 1 by C-H reductive elimination of ArF-H, where experimental and computational studies establish a concerted but highly asynchronous mechanism. The results provide well-characterized examples of the full triad of elementary mechanistic aryl C-X substitution steps at a single main-group site.

Enthalpy-Controlled Insertion of a "Nonspectator" Tricoordinate Phosphorus Ligand into Group 10 Transition Metal-Carbon Bonds.

Insertion of a tricoordinate phosphorus ligand into late metal-carbon bonds is reported. Metalation of a P^P-chelating ligand (L1), composed of a nontrigonal phosphorous (i.e., P(III)) triamide moiety, P(N(o-N(Ar)C6H4)2, tethered by a phenylene linker to a -PiPr2 anchor, with group 10 complexes L2M(Me)Cl (M = Ni, Pd) results in insertion of the nontrigonal phosphorus site into the metal-methyl bond. The stable methylmetallophosphorane compounds thus formed are characterized spectroscopically and crystallographically. Metalation of L1 with (cod)PtII(Me)(Cl) does not lead to a metallophosphorane but rather to the standard bisphosphine chelate (κ2-L1)Pt(Me)(Cl). These divergent reactivities within group 10 are rationalized by reference to periodic variation in M-C bond enthalpies.

P(III)/P(V)-Catalyzed Methylamination of Arylboronic Acids and Esters: Reductive C-N Coupling with Nitromethane as a Methylamine Surrogate.

The direct reductive N-arylation of nitromethane by organophosphorus-catalyzed reductive C-N coupling with arylboronic acid derivatives is reported. This method operates by the action of a small ring organophosphorus-based catalyst (1,2,2,3,4,4-hexamethylphosphetane P-oxide) together with a mild terminal reductant hydrosilane to drive the selective installation of the methylamino group to (hetero)aromatic boronic acids and esters. This method also provides for a unified synthetic approach to isotopically labeled N-methylanilines from various stable isotopologues of nitromethane (i.e., CD3NO2, CH315NO2, and 13CH3NO2), revealing this easy-to-handle compound as a versatile precursor for the direct installation of the methylamino group.

An Improved PIII/PV═O-Catalyzed Reductive C-N Coupling of Nitroaromatics and Boronic Acids by Mechanistic Differentiation of Rate- and Product-Determining Steps.

Experimental, spectroscopic, and computational studies are reported that provide an evidence-based mechanistic description of an intermolecular reductive C-N coupling of nitroarenes and arylboronic acids catalyzed by a redox-active main-group catalyst (1,2,2,3,4,4-hexamethylphosphetane P-oxide, i.e., 1·[O]). The central observations include the following: (1) catalytic reduction of 1·[O] to PIII phosphetane 1 is kinetically fast under conditions of catalysis; (2) phosphetane 1 represents the catalytic resting state as observed by 31P NMR spectroscopy; (3) there are no long-lived nitroarene partial-reduction intermediates observable by 15N NMR spectroscopy; (4) the reaction is sensitive to solvent dielectric, performing best in moderately polar solvents (viz. cyclopentylmethyl ether); and (5) the reaction is largely insensitive with respect to common hydrosilane reductants. On the basis of the foregoing studies, new modified catalytic conditions are described that expand the reaction scope and provide for mild temperatures (T ≥ 60 °C), low catalyst loadings (≥2 mol%), and innocuous terminal reductants (polymethylhydrosiloxane). DFT calculations define a two-stage deoxygenation sequence for the reductive C-N coupling. The initial deoxygenation involves a rate-determining step that consists of a (3+1) cheletropic addition between the nitroarene substrate and phosphetane 1; energy decomposition techniques highlight the biphilic character of the phosphetane in this step. Although kinetically invisible, the second deoxygenation stage is implicated as the critical C-N product-forming event, in which a postulated oxazaphosphirane intermediate is diverted from arylnitrene dissociation toward heterolytic ring opening with the arylboronic acid; the resulting dipolar intermediate evolves by antiperiplanar 1,2-migration of the organoboron residue to nitrogen, resulting in displacement of 1·[O] and formation of the target C-N coupling product upon in situ hydrolysis. The method thus described constitutes a mechanistically well-defined and operationally robust main-group complement to the current workhorse transition-metal-based methods for catalytic intermolecular C-N coupling.

PIII /PV =O Catalyzed Cascade Synthesis of N-Functionalized Azaheterocycles.

An organocatalytic method for the modular synthesis of diverse N-aryl and N-alkyl azaheterocycles (indoles, oxindoles, benzimidazoles, and quinoxalinediones) is reported. The method employs a small-ring organophosphorus-based catalyst (1,2,2,3,4,4-hexamethylphosphetane P-oxide) and a hydrosilane reductant to drive the conversion of ortho-functionalized nitroarenes into azaheterocycles through sequential intermolecular reductive C-N cross coupling with boronic acids, followed by intramolecular cyclization. This method enables the rapid construction of azaheterocycles from readily available building blocks, including a regiospecific approach to N-substituted benzimidazoles and quinoxalinediones.

Driving Recursive Dehydration by PIII/PV Catalysis: Annulation of Amines and Carboxylic Acids by Sequential C-N and C-C Bond Formation.

A method for the annulation of amines and carboxylic acids to form pharmaceutically relevant azaheterocycles via organophosphorus PIII/PV redox catalysis is reported. The method employs a phosphetane catalyst together with a mild bromenium oxidant and terminal hydrosilane reductant to drive successive C-N and C-C bond-forming dehydration events via the serial action of a catalytic bromophosphonium intermediate. These results demonstrate the capacity of PIII/PV redox catalysis to enable iterative redox-neutral transformations in complement to the common reductive driving force of the PIII/PV couple.

PEt3-Mediated Deoxygenative C-N Coupling of Nitroarenes and Boronic Acids.

A method for the preparation of aryl- and heteroarylamine products by triethylphosphine-mediated deoxygenative coupling of nitroarenes and boronic acids is reported. This method provides access to an array of functionalized (hetero)arylamine products from readily available starting materials under the action of an inexpensive commercial reagent. The developed triethylphosphine-mediated transformation highlights the capability of organophosphorus compounds to carry out this useful deoxygenative transformation without the necessity of any transition metal additives.

A Nontrigonal Tricoordinate Phosphorus Ligand Exhibiting Reversible "Nonspectator" L/X-Switching.

We report here a "nonspectator" behavior for an unsupported L-function σ3 -P ligand (i.e. P{N[o-NMe-C6 H4 ]2 }, 1a) in complex with the cyclopentadienyliron dicarbonyl cation (Fp+ ). Treatment of 1a⋅Fp+ with [(Me2 N)3 S][Me3 SiF2 ] results in fluoride addition to the P-center, giving the isolable crystalline fluorometallophosphorane 1aF ⋅Fp that allows a crystallographic assessment of the variance in the Fe-P bond as a function of P-coordination number. The nonspectator reactivity of 1a⋅Fp+ is rationalized on the basis of electronic structure arguments and by comparison to trigonal analogue (Me2 N)3 P⋅Fp+ (i.e. 1b⋅Fp+ ), which is inert to fluoride addition. These observations establish a nonspectator L/X-switching in (σ3 -P)-M complexes by reversible access to higher-coordinate phosphorus ligand fragments.

Organophosphorus-Catalyzed Deoxygenation of Sulfonyl Chlorides: Electrophilic (Fluoroalkyl)sulfenylation by PIII /PV =O Redox Cycling.

A method for electrophilic sulfenylation by organophosphorus-catalyzed deoxygenative O-atom transfer from sulfonyl chlorides is reported. This C-S bond-forming reaction is catalyzed by a readily available small-ring phosphine (phosphetane) in conjunction with a hydrosilane terminal reductant to afford a general entry to sulfenyl electrophiles, including valuable trifluoromethyl, perfluoroalkyl, and heteroaryl derivatives that are otherwise difficult to access. Mechanistic investigations indicate that the twofold deoxygenation of the sulfonyl substrate proceeds by the intervention of an off-cycle resting state thiophosphonium ion. The catalytic method represents an operationally simple protocol using a stable phosphine oxide as a precatalyst and exhibits broad functional-group tolerance.