- Synthesis of ortho-acylphenols through the palladium-catalyzed ketone-directed hydroxylation of arenes
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ortho-Acylphenols are an important structural motif found in a diversity of bioactive molecules ranging from natural products to drugs (Figure 1). Moreover, they also serve as versatile building blocks for the synthesis of various pharmaceuticals, such as warfarin, as well as agrichemicals, flavors, and fragrances. Classic approaches to the synthesis of o-acylphenols generally involve a two-step process: acylation of phenols followed by Fries rearrangement of the resulting phenyl esters (Scheme 1a). On the other hand, direct C-acylation of phenols has also been known under more forcing conditions. Although effective, these approaches are often complicated by the formation of undesired p-substituted products when bulky acyl groups need to be introduced, as well as the limited variety of ketones that can be generated.
- Mo, Fanyang,Trzepkowski, Louis J.,Dong, Guangbin
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supporting information
p. 13075 - 13079
(2013/02/25)
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- Synthesis of methoxy-substituted phenols by peracid oxidation of the aromatic ring
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A novel benign protocol for the preparation of hydroxy-methoxybenzene derivatives is disclosed. By utilizing this protocol, activated aromatic compounds such as l,3-dimethoxy-2-methyl-benzene and 1-(2,6-dimethoxyphenyl) ethanone are smoothly converted to the corresponding monohydroxylated compound. The reaction can be considered to be a normal aromatic electrophilic substitution reaction, and the regioselectivity for the reaction thus follows the similar rules as for electrophilic substitutions. The protocol is composed by benign reagents, namely, hydogenperoxide, acetic acid, and p-toluene sulfonic acid, which lead to the production of ethaneperoxoic acid in situ. The ethaneperoxoic acid operates as the hydroxylating reagent. The hydroxylation reaction is completed within a short period and requires moreover only mild experimental conditions, which make this novel protocol a green, cheap, and rapid process leading to hydroxy-methoxybenzene derivatives. The proposed reaction mechanism is supported by density functional theory and NMR spectroscopy experiments. The mechanism is constituted by two discrete steps: (a) addition of OH+ to the most nucleophilic carbon atom of the aromatic ring, which is the rate-determining step, and (b) the loss of the proton from the aromatic ring.
- Bjorsvik, Hans-Rene,Occhipinti, Giovanni,Gambarotti, Cristian,Cerasino, Leonardo,Jensen, Vidar R.
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p. 7290 - 7296
(2007/10/03)
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