A Concise Synthesis of 2-(2-Hydroxyphenyl)acetonitriles via the o-Quinone Methides
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Scheme 3 A plausible mechanism
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Me3Si CN
-
1a
K2CO3
Ph
Bu4N+
F
- Me3SiF
H2O
CN
2a
Ph
+
-
OSiMe3
Bu4N
CN
II
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O
Ph
o-QMs
CN
Me3Si CN
+
-
O NBu4
I
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The product, 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)acetonitrile could
be further transformed into the corresponding benzo-
furanone,[17] which is an essential scaffold in a plethora
of important natural products and shows a wide range of
biological activities. In the presence of hydrogen
chloride, 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)acetonitrile products 2a-
2c were smoothly converted to benzofuranones 3a-3c
in high yields (Scheme 4).
Scheme 4 Synthesis of benzofuranones 3
R1
R1
O
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37% HCl (aq.), CH3CN
80 oC
CN
OH
O
2
3
R1
4-MeC6H4
82 (3b)
4-MeOC6H4
Ph
Yield/%
77 (3a)
86 (3c)
Conclusions
In conclusion, we have developed a concise protocol
for the rapid synthesis of 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)aceto-
nitriles by using trimethylsilyl cyanide and 2-(1-tosylal-
kyl) phenols via the formation of o-QM intermediates
under basic condition to give moderate to excellent
yields. Moreover, 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)acetonitriles
could be conveniently transformed to benzofuranone
derivatives in the presence of hydrogen chloride.
Acknowledgement
This work was financially supported by the National
Natural Science Foundation of China (21125208 &
20921092) and National Basic Research Program of
China (2010CB833300).
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