W.-M. Dai et al.
Table 2. The synthesis of heterodimerization products 9 from 7 and 8.[a]
To explore the reaction of 1,1-diarylethenes 8 with other
alkenes (Scheme 4), we found that allyl alcohol 17 (2 equiv)
reacted with 1,1-diphenylethene (8a) to form the diene 18a
7: X
T [8C]
Ar=Ph
Ar=tolyl
yield [%][b]
yield [%][b]
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
H
2-Me
2-F
7a
7b
7c
7d
7e
7 f
7g
7h
7i
120
140
140
140
140
120
120
120
120
120
120
9aa: 80 (15)[c]
9ab: 91
9ac: 94
9ad: 93
9ae: 94
9ba: 90
9bb: 94
9bc: 96
9bd: 95
9be: 90
9bf: 82
9bg: 83
9bh: 93
9bi: 94
2-Br
2-Cl
3-Br
3-Cl
4-Br
4-Cl
4-Me
4-MeO
9af: 76
9ag: 70
9ah: 75
9ai: 81 (17)[c]
9aj: 71
10
11
7j
7k
9bj: 84
9ak: trace[d]
9bk: trace[d]
Scheme 4. The CuACHTNUGTRENUNG(OTf)2-catalyzed reaction of allyl alcohol 17 with 1,1-
diarylethenes 8 under microwave heating.
[a] Reaction conditions: 7 (0.5 mmol), 8a (Ar=Ph, 1.0 mmol) or 8b
(Ar=4-tolyl, 0.75 mmol), and In(OTf)3 (10 mol%) in 1,4-dioxane (1 mL)
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
at 120–1408C for 24 h in a sealed vial. Byproduct 14 was observed in en-
tries 1 and 6–10. [b] Isolated yield of 9. [c] Isolated yield of byproduct 14
given in parentheses. [d] Polymerization might occur.
(Ar=Ph) in PEG-400 at 1208C after 24 h in the presence of
a Lewis acid (50 mol%). The isolated yield of 18a increases
9, Table 2). Formation of homodimers 14 was observed in all
reactions and 14i (X=4-Cl) was isolated in a 17% yield for
entry 9, Table 2. For the electron-rich styrene 7j (X=4-Me),
the desired heterodimer 9aj was produced in 71% yield, al-
though homodimer 14j (X=4-Me) was not observed, pre-
sumably due to the formation of an oligomer/polymer
(entry 10, Table 2). The polymerization pathway became
dominant for styrene 7k (X=4-MeO) and no separable
products were obtained (entry 11, Table 2).[3e] In contrast, 4-
vinylpyridine failed to react via either hetero- or homodime-
rization even at 1408C and was recovered after heating for
24 h (data not shown in Table 2). Moreover, the reactivity of
2-substituted styrenes deserves special comment. The addi-
tional steric hindrance arising from the ortho substituent
makes it difficult for carbocation 12 to react with both 7 and
8 at 1208C. After raising the temperature to 1408C, the het-
erodimerization took place in much higher selectivity to fur-
nish 9ab–ae in 91–94% isolated yields (entries 2–5, Table 2).
We also examined the reaction of 4-chlorophenylethene
(7i) with 1,1-diphenylethene (8a) in 1,4-dioxane (1208C,
24 h) by using Brønsted acids [H2SO4 (80 mol%), HCl
(100 mol%), and CF3CO2H (20 mol%)]. Heterodimer 9ai
was isolated in a 15% yield under H2SO4 catalysis, whereas
only trace amounts were detected for reactions with the
other two Brønsted acids. These data clearly demonstrate
the importance of the bulky indium coordination sphere in
carbocations 11 and 12 for deactivating 11 and directing the
heterodimerization process (12!15!9). Presumably the
indium-bound carbocations are much less reactive than their
corresponding metal-free counterparts so that the undesired
homo- and cyclodimerization of vinylarenes 7[3f,4c,6] and 1,1-
diarylethenes 8[9,10] are eliminated or suppressed. We further
enhanced the selective formation of carbocation 15 by incor-
porating electron-rich aryl groups, such as 4-tolyl, generally
providing a roughly 10% increase in the yield for the heter-
odimers 9ba and 9bf–bj (entries 1 and 6–10, Table 2). This
also allowed the ratio of 7 to 8b (Ar=4-tolyl) to be reduced
to 1:1.5. These results are consistent with the cationic mech-
anisms depicted in Scheme 3.
in the order AgOTf (18%)<Sc
ACHUTGTNRNE(NUG OTf)3 (32%)<InACHTUNGTRENNUNG
(47%)<Sn(OTf)3 (58%)<FeCl3·6H2O (67%)<CuACHTUNGTRENNUNG
G
(88%). Other solvents, including DMA, DMF, DMSO, tolu-
ene, and 1,4-dioxane, were examined with FeCl3·6H2O
(50 mol%) at 1208C for 24 h, but diene product 18a was
barely formed under these conditions except for a 46%
yield obtained for the reaction in 1,4-dioxane. If the reaction
was carried out under microwave heating at 1708C for 2 h,
the loading of CuACHTNUTRGNE(NUG OTf)3 could be reduced to 10 mol% and
product 18a was formed in 83% yield. Moreover, by using
electron-rich 8b (Ar=4-tolyl), the yield of diene 18b was
improved to 92%.[13]
In conclusion, we have established a general and efficient
hydroalkenylation of vinylarenes 7 through addition to an
ꢀ
olefinic C H bond in 1,1-diarylethenes 8, catalyzed by In-
(OTf)3, to furnish trisubstituted alkenes 9 in good to excel-
lent yields. The highly chemo- and regioselective head-to-
tail heterodimerization likely takes place through a cationic
mechanism initiated by the indium-bound carbocation 12.
This cation, as compared to its corresponding metal-free
counterparts, contributes to the heterodimerization in a syn-
ergetic manner with 1,1-diarylethenes 8. The unique carbo-
cation stabilizing ability and steric bulk of the diaryl groups
in 8 are the indispensable factors responsible for the high se-
lectivity. Our results present a new method for highly selec-
tive alkene heterodimerization[4d,10d,11,12b–d] without relying
on the action of transition metals.
Acknowledgements
The Laboratory of Asymmetric Catalysis and Synthesis is established
under the Cheung Kong Scholars Program of The Ministry of Education
of China. This work is supported by Zhejiang University and the Zhe-
jiang University Education Foundation.
ꢀ
Keywords: alkenes
·
carbocations
·
C H activation
·
hydroalkenylation · Lewis acids
8292
ꢀ 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Chem. Eur. J. 2011, 17, 8290 – 8293