Highly N2-selective palladium-catalyzed arylation of 1,2,3-triazoles

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/anie.201103882

A familiar ring? Highly N²-selective arylation of 4,5-unsubstituted and 4-substituted 1,2,3-triazoles was achieved for the first time by the Pd/1 catalyst system. A wide range of N²-aryl-1,2,3- triazoles were prepared from aryl bromi

Full text of DOI:10.1002/anie.201103882

Communications
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201103882
Synthetic Methods
Highly N2-Selective Palladium-Catalyzed Arylation of 1,2,3-Triazoles**
Satoshi Ueda, Mingjuan Su, and Stephen L. Buchwald*
N-Substituted 1,2,3-triazoles have found widespread applica-
tions in material science and medicinal chemistry.[1,2] Because
of the importance of this structural motif, many practical
synthetic methods have been developed. Among them, the
Huisgen azide–alkyne dipolar cycloaddition (AAC) is per-
haps the most commonly utilized method for the synthesis of
N1-substituted 1,2,3-triazoles.[3] In particular, recent develop-
ments in copper-[4] and ruthenium-catalyzed[5] AAC reactions
have provided a general and regioselective access to 1,4- and
1,5-substituted 1,2,3-triazoles, respectively. In contrast, regio-
selective synthesis of N2-substituted 1,2,3-triazoles remains a
challenging issue. A particularly interesting subset of these
compounds are N2-aryl-1,2,3-triazoles, which are found in
biologically active compounds including an orexin receptor
antagonist (MK4305),[2a,b] JAK kinase inhibitors,[2c] and 2,3-
oxidosqualene cyclase inhibitors.[2d] Ideally, the most direct
route to N2-aryl-1,2,3-triazoles involves N arylation of 1,2,3-
triazoles.[2a–c,6,7] However, SNAr and copper-catalyzed aryla-
tion reactions of simple 1,2,3-triazoles generally give mixtures
of regioisomers with poor to moderate N2 selectivity.[8]
Recently, Shi and co-workers[9] and Wang and co-workers[10]
reported the highly N2-selective SNAr and copper-catalyzed
arylation reactions using 4,5-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles,
where C4- and C5-substituents prevent substitution on the
N1- and N3-position by steric hindrance.[11] Despite these
advances, a highly (> 90%) N2-selective arylation method of
4-substituted and 4,5-unsubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles is still
lacking. Herein, we report that exceptional levels of
N2 selectivity can be obtained in the palladium-catalyzed
N arylation of simple 1,2,3-triazoles by the use of the very
bulky biaryl phosphine ligand L1. This method enabled the
first highly N2-selective arylation of 4-substituted and 4,5-
unsubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles with aryl bromides, chlorides,
and triflates.
Table 1: Ligand effects on the palladium-catalyzed N arylation of 1,2,3-
triazole.[a]
Entry
Ligand
Conversion [%][b]
Yield of N2-arylated
product [%][b]
N2/N1[c]
1
L1
L1
L2
L3
L4
100
9
<5
20
93 (90)[d]
7
<5
<16
<5
97:3
n.d.
n.d.
96:4
n.d.
2[e]
3
4
5
<5
[a] Reaction conditions: bromobenzene (1 mmol), 1,2,3-triazole
(1.2 mmol), K3PO4 (2 mmol), [Pd2(dba)3] (0.75 mol%), ligand
(1.8 mol%), toluene (1 mL), 1208C, 5 h. [Pd2(dba)3] and ligand were
premixed in toluene (0.5 mL) at 1208C for 3 min. [b] Determined by GC
analysis of crude reaction mixture. [c] N2 to N1 ratio was determined by
GC analysis. [d] Yield of the isolated product. [e] Reaction was performed
without premixing [Pd2(dba)3] and L1. dba=dibeynzylideneacetone,
n.d.=not determined.
97:3; Table 1, entry 1).[12] To the best of our knowledge, this is
the first palladium-catalyzed and highly N2-selective arylation
of 4,5-unsubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles. It was important to
preheat a solution of [Pd2(dba)3] and L1 before they were
exposed to the 1,2,3-triazole, bromobenzene, and K3PO4. The
reaction was significantly less efficient without catalyst pre-
heating (entry 2), which is presumably a result of the
inhibitory effect of 1,2,3-triazole on the in situ formation of
the catalytically active Pd0/ligand complex. The use of less
sterically hindered biaryl phosphines L2–L4 provided, at best,
a 16% yield of the N-arylated product (entries 3–5). These
low yields suggest that the nature of the both upper-ring
substituents and lower-ring isopropyl groups of L1 are crucial
to the present catalyst system.
The substrate scope of the N arylation of 1,2,3-triazole is
shown in Table 2. A variety of aryl bromides, chlorides, and
triflates with ester, ketone, aldehyde, acetal, nitro, and cyano
groups could be employed in the N-arylation reactions. While
slightly decreased N2 selectivity was observed for the reac-
tions of aryl chlorides with para-electron-withdrawing groups
(entries 9 and 10), excellent N2 selectivity (> 95%
N2 selective) was observed in all other substrates examined.
We initiated our study by examining the N arylation of
1,2,3-triazole with bromobenzene in the presence of [Pd2-
(dba)3] (0.75 mol%) with a series of biaryl phosphine ligands
(L1–L4; 1.8 mol%). Gratifyingly, the palladium-catalyzed
reaction of 1,2,3-triazole using L1 furnished the N2-arylated
product in 90% yield with excellent N2 selectivity (N2/N1 =
[*] Dr. S. Ueda, M. Su, Prof. Dr. S. L. Buchwald
Department of Chemistry, Room 18-490
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge MA 02139 (USA)
E-mail: sbuchwal@mit.edu
[**] This work is supported by the National Institutes of Health
(GM58160). S.U. thanks the Japan Society for the Promotion of
Sciences (JSPS) for a Postdoctral Fellowship for Research Abroad.
We thank Dr. Thomas J. Maimone for help with preparation of this
manuscript.
Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW
under http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201103882.
8944
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Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 8944 –8947

Table 2: Substrate scope of N2-selective arylation of 4,5-unsubstituted
Table 3: Substrate scope of N2-selective arylation of 4-substituted 1,2,3-
1,2,3-triazole.[a]
triazoles.[a]
Entry Major product
Pd
[mol%] [%][b] N1[c]
Yield N2/
Entry Major product
1
Pd [mol%] Yield [%][b] N2/N1[c]
1
2
3
4
R=CN
X=Br 1.0
R=OBn X=Br 1.0
R=NO2 X=Br 0.5
89
90
87
91
97:3
99:1
98:2
97:3
1.5
1.0
90
90
97:3
98:2
R=Cl
X=Br 0.5
2
3
4
5
6
–
X=Br 1.0
87
83
97:3
97:3
–
X=Br 1.0
1.5
0.5
86
85
98:2
96:4
7
8
R=CHO X=Br 1.0
79
78
97:3
96:4
R=Cy
X =Br 1.5
9
–
X=Cl 0.5
84
95:5
5
6
7
8
1.5
1.0
1.5
1.5
91
93
91
94
98:2
99:1
99:1
99:1
10
11
12
–
–
–
X=Cl 0.7
X=Cl 2.0
X=OTf 1.5
83
46
90
95:5
99:1
98:2
[a] Reaction conditions: ArX (1 mmol), 4-substituted 1,2,3-triazole
(1.2 mmol), K3PO4 (2 mmol), [Pd2(dba)3] (0.5–0.75 mol%), L1 (1.0–
1.8 mol%), toluene (1 mL), 1208C, 5 h. [b] Yields are of the isolated N2-
arylated product (average of two runs). [c] Determined by GC analysis of
the crude reaction mixture. Bn=benzyl, Boc=tert-butoxycarbonyl.
13
–
X=OTf 0.5
91
98:2
[a] Reaction conditions: ArX (1 mmol), 1,2,3-triazole (1.2 mmol), K3PO4
(2 mmol), [Pd2(dba)3] (0.25–0.75 mol%), L1 (0.5–1.8 mol%), toluene
(1 mL), 1208C, 5 h. [b] Yields are those for the isolated N2-arylated
product (average of two runs). [c] Determined by GC analysis of the
crude reaction mixture. Cy=cyclohexyl, Tf=trifluoromethanesulfonyl.
4-aryl-substituted 1,2,3-triazoles gave products with 98%
N2 selectivity (entries 2–3). These N2 selectivities are higher
than those reported for copper-catalyzed N arylations (N2/
N1 = 4:1) and SNAr reactions (N2/N1 = 1.6:1) of 4-aryl-1,2,3-
triazoles.[7a] Reactions of primary alkyl, functionalized pri-
mary-alkyl- and secondary-alkyl-substituted 1,2,3-triazoles
also showed excellent N2 selectivities (entries 4–7).
The yield was diminished when the aryl halide bearing an
ortho substituent was employed (entry 11), probably because
of unfavorable steric interactions between the bulky ligand
and the ortho substituent (entry 11). Lower (0.3–0.7 mol%)
palladium loadings could be employed for the electron-
deficient aryl halides and triflate (entries 3, 4, 9, 10, and 13).
To expand the generality of this process, we examined the
N arylation of 4-substituted 1,2,3-triazoles (Table 3). The
N arylation of 4-phenyl-1,2,3-triazole with bromobenzene
gave excellent N2/N1 selectivity; the N3-arylated product was
While excellent N2 selectivity was observed for the
reactions of 4,5-unsubstituted and 4-substituted 1,2,3-tria-
zoles, we obtained a near 1:1 mixture of N1- and N2-aryl
isomers for the reaction of benzotriazole with bromobenzene
(Scheme 1).
To gain insight into the origin of regioselectivity, we
performed DFT calculations of the presumed intermediates.
For the N arylations of benzotriazole and 1,2,3-triazole with
bromobenzene, transmetallation of the triazolate to the
[L1Pd(Ph)(Br)] complex could provide tautomeric species
1
not detected by GC/MS or H NMR analysis of the crude
reaction mixture (entry 1). Similarly, N arylation of other
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Communications
In summary, we have established a highly N2-selective
palladium-catalyzed arylation of 4,5-unsubstituted and 4-
substituted 1,2,3-triazoles with aryl bromides, chlorides, and
triflates. Theoretical calculations suggested that highly N2-
selective arylation of 1,2,3-triazoles is due to rapid reductive
elimination from N2-1,2,3-triazolate/Pd complex B. Together
with the well-established copper- and ruthenium-catalyzed
AAC, the present palladium-catalyzed system allows straight-
forward and regioselective preparation of N-aryl 1,2,3-tria-
zoles.
Scheme 1. Palladium-catalyzed N arylation of benzotriazole.
A/ A’, and B/B’, respectively (Figure 1).[13–14] The relative
energies of the key intermediates and the transition states
(TSs) are shown in Figure 1. In the benzotriazole case, a small Experimental Section
energetic preference (DG = 1.6 kcalmolÀ1) for the N2-
benzotriazolate complex A over the N1-benzotriazolate A’
was observed. Comparison of the two isomeric transition
states for the reductive elimination from the benzotriazolate
complexes A and A’ showed that only an insignificant
energetic preference existed between the A-TS and A’-TS
(DDG° = 0.1 kcalmolÀ1). The poor regioselectivity (N2/N1 =
47:53) observed for the benzotriazole system can be explained
by the close relative energies of the A-TS and A’-TS. In the
1,2,3-triazole system, the transition states for the reductive
elimination (B-TS and B’-TS) are significantly different
(DDG° = 3.3 kcalmolÀ1) in favor of the transition state
leading to the N2-arylated product, which is in agreement
with the observed regioselectivity.
General procedure: An oven-dried vial was equipped with a magnetic
stir bar and charged with [Pd2(dba)3] and L1. The vial was sealed with
a screw-cap septum, and then evacuated and backfilled with argon
(this process was repeated a total of 3 times). Toluene (0.5 mL) was
added to the vial via syringe. The resulting dark-purple mixture was
stirred at 1208C for 3 min, at this point the color of the mixture turned
to dark brown. A second oven-dried vial, which was equipped with a
stir bar, was charged with K3PO4 (424 mg, 2.0 mmol; aryl halides and
1,2,3-triazoles that were solid at room temperature were added at this
point). The vial was sealed with a screw-cap septum, and then
evacuated and backfilled with argon (this process was repeated a total
of 3 times). The 1,2,3-triazole (1.2 mmol) and aryl halide (1.0 mmol)
were then added via syringe, as well as the premixed catalyst solution
and toluene (0.5 mL; total 1.0 mL toluene). The reaction mixture was
heated at 1208C for 5 h. The reaction was cooled to room temper-
ature, diluted with EtOAc, washed with brine, dried over MgSO4,
concentrated in vacuo and purified by flash chromatography on silica
gel to give pure products.
Received: June 7, 2011
Published online: August 18, 2011
À
Keywords: C N coupling · heterocycles ·
homogeneous catalysis · N-arylation · palladium
.
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