Organic Letters
Letter
a
(1s), (E)-3-(benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-yl)prop-2-en-1-ol (1t),
(E)-3-(naphthalen-2-yl)prop-2-en-1-ol (1u), and (E)-3-(naph-
thalen-1-yl)prop-2-en-1-ol (1v), displayed reactivity similar to
that of (E)-3-phenylprop-2-en-1-ol (Table 2, entries 18−21).
We also examined the reactivity of (E)-4-phenylbut-3-en-2-ol
(1w) and (E)-1,3-diphenylprop-2-en-1-ol (1x). Their reaction
required longer time and gave excellent product yields (Table
2, entries 22 and 23). (E)-2-Methyl-3-phenylprop-2-en-1-ol
(1y) showed relatively low reactivity. Its reaction with 2a was
performed at 80 °C and led to the desired product in 56%
yield, as a mixture of Z and E isomers (Table 2, entry 24). The
catalytic system was also used to perform the transformation of
alkyl-substituted allyl alcohols. Reaction of these substrates
required longer time and higher temperature. For example,
reaction of (E)-6-(4-methoxyphenyl)hex-2-en-1-ol (1z) and
(E)-3-(tetrahydro-2H-pyran-4-yl)prop-2-en-1-ol (1za) with 2a
at 80 °C for 24 h resulted in the mixtures of linear and
branched coupling products in 86% and 80% total yields,
respectively (Table 2, entries 25 and 26) (see the mechanism
discussion section below).
Several heteroaryl-substituted allyl alcohols were also
examined under the optimized conditions. As shown in
Scheme 1, furan-2-yl-, thiophen-2-yl-, pyridin-2-yl-, benzo[b]-
thiophen-3-yl-, and 1-methyl-1H-indol-5-yl-substituted allyl
alcohols were demonstrated to be suitable substrates for the
coupling, leading to the desired products in excellent yields.
Reaction of (E)-3-(thiophen-2-yl)prop-2-en-1-ol with 2a
required a longer reaction time and gave the desired product
in 85% yield, as a mixture of Z and E isomers.
Reactivity of 1-arylprop-2-en-1-ols was also examined using
PhMe2SiZnCl as the nucleophilic reagent (see Scheme 2). A
mixture of toluene and nBu2O (3:1) were demonstrated to be
superior to toluene as a solvent, and the reaction time was
prolonged to 24 h to ensure the complete consumption of the
1-arylprop-2-en-1-ols. Linear allylsilanes were formed in each
case. Reaction of 1-phenylprop-2-en-1-ol and 1-(4-substituted
phenyl)prop-2-en-1-ols with electron-donor groups on the
phenyl rings gave the products in yields of 83%−86%. Reaction
of 1-(4-substituted phenyl)prop-2-en-1-ols with electron-with-
drawing groups on the phenyl rings resulted in slightly lower
product yields.
Other silicon nucleophiles were also tested. Both
Ph2MeSiZnCl and Ph3SiZnCl exhibited excellent reactivity.
Their reaction with cinnamyl alcohol afforded the correspond-
ing products in yields of 99% and 91%, respectively (see
Scheme 3). Reaction of Ph3SiZnCl required a longer reaction
time to make the alcohol convert completely.
Table 1. Optimization of Reaction Conditions
b
entry
catalyst
solvent
yield (%)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
−
CuI
THF
THF
THF
THF
THF
THF
THF
THF
THF
THF
THF
THF
THF
none
none
none
29
34
24
31
trace
88
10
5
88
92
92
97
97
93
97 (90 )
c
[Pd(π-allyl)Cl]2
NiCl2(dppe)
NiCl2(dppp)
NiCl2(dppf)
NiCl2(PPh3)2
NiCl2(PCy3)2
NiCl2(PMe3)2
NiCl2(DME)
NiBr2(glyme)
NiCl2(PMe3)2
NiCl2(PMe3)2
NiCl2(PMe3)2
NiCl2(PMe3)2
NiCl2(PMe3)2
NiCl2(PMe3)2
NiCl2(PMe3)2
10
11
d
12
e
13
14
15
16
THF/toluene (3/1)
toluene/nBu2O (3/1)
toluene
toluene
toluene
c
17
f
g
18
a
Unless otherwise specified, the reactions were performed on a 0.2
mmol scale, according to the conditions indicated by the above
equation. Isolated yield. 5 mol % catalyst was employed. The
b
c
d
e
f
reaction was run for 18 h. 1.5 equiv of 2a was employed. The
g
reaction was performed at room temperature for 5 h. 2 mmol scale.
reaction on a 2 mmol scale also proceeded well under the
conditions (Table 1, entry 18).
With the optimized conditions in hand, we explored the
scope of allyl alcohols using PhMe2SiZnCl (2a) as the
nucleophilic reagent (see Table 2). Thus, allyl alcohols was
first treated with MeZnCl. The reaction with PhMe2SiZnCl
then was run in toluene at room temperature for 5 h, using
Ni(PMe3)Cl2 (10 mol %) as a catalyst. A range of 3-
(substituted phenyl)prop-2-en-1-ols were tested and demon-
strated to be suitable for the transformation. The allyl alcohols
with either electron-rich or electron-poor substituted phenyl
gave excellent product yields (Table 2, entries 1−9 and 11−
17). It seems that the electron effect of the substituents on the
phenyl rings makes no difference to the reaction. The coupling
of (E)-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)prop-2-en-1-ol was also performed
on a 4 mmol scale and gave 3c in 87% isolated yield (Table 2,
entry 2). Functional groups on the phenyl rings, including p-
tBu, p-OMe, p-NMe2, p-SMe, p-CF3, p-OCF3, p-OCHF2, p-F,
p-Cl, p-CO2Me, p-CONEt2, m-OMe, m-OPh, m-CF3, o-Ph, and
o-F, were tolerated.
We also examined the potential use of the allylsilanes
produced in this work. It was demonstrated that the resultant
allylsilane, cinnamyldimethyl(phenyl)silane, can be utilized as
an allylating agent with high regioselectivity when reacted with
Ph2CHOH in the presence of InCl3 (see Scheme 4).9
Prelimilary experiments to evaluate the plausible reaction
mechanism were performed (see Scheme S9 in the Supporting
Information). The reaction of cinnamyl alcohol (1a) with
PhMe2SiZnCl (2a) was not affected by (1-cyclopropylvinyl)-
benzene additive. When 1.0 equiv of (1-cyclopropylvinyl)-
benzene was added to the reaction system, the catalytic process
gave the desired coupling product in 97% yield, along with
recovery of (1-cyclopropyl-vinyl)benzene in 94% yield (see
Scheme S9a in the Supporting Information). This is
inconsistent with a free radical process. The combination of
Ni(COD)2 and PMe3 exhibited almost the same catalytic
However, the bromo substituent in (E)-3-(4-bromophenyl)
prop-2-en-1-ol (1k) cannot be tolerated. Reaction of 1k with
PhMe2SiZnCl under the standard conditions afforded (E)-3-
(4-(dimethyl(phenyl)silyl)phenyl)prop-2-en-1-ol (3k) in 72%
yield, along with (E)-(3-(4-(dimethyl(phenyl)silyl)phenyl)-
allyl)dimethyl(phenyl)silane (3ka) in 27% yield (Table 2,
entry 10). It seems that the bromo substituent is more reactive
than the hydroxy group in 1k under the standard conditions.
When 2 equiv of PhMe2SiZnCl were used, the reaction
resulted in 3ka in 99% yield. Other 3-arylprop-2-en-1-ols, such
as (E)-3-(2,3-dihydrobenzo[b][1,4]dioxin-6-yl)prop-2-en-1-ol
B
Org. Lett. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX