X. Zhang et al. / Tetrahedron Letters 55 (2014) 120–123
121
Results and discussion
The synthesis of 1a is shown in Scheme 1.17 Treatment of
bis(ethylcyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride [(CH3CH2Cp)2-
ZrCl2] (1 equiv) with silver perfluorooctanesulfonate (AgOSO2C8-
F17)
(2 equiv) in dry THF yielded 1aÁxH2OÁyTHF (after
recrystallization from THF). The water molecules in the complex
originated from air or the solvent, and the hydrate numbers x
and solvating ligand THF y varied according to the reaction condi-
tions. The result of 1H NMR spectroscopy (in dry [D6] acetone)
showed that in the freshly prepared sample after recrystallization
and vacuum treatment at 60 °C for 1 h, complex 1aÁxH2OÁyTHF be-
came 1a (x = 0, y = 0). It is notable that the samples remained as dry
powder after being kept in open air over a month, and exhibited no
sign of structural change by 1H NMR spectroscopy analysis, show-
ing a great advantage over zirconocene bis(triflate) and the tradi-
tional Lewis-acid catalysts from an operational point of view.
Though it is difficult to acquire the crystal structure owing to
the large disorder of perfluorooctanesulfonate group, the cationic
structure of 1aÁ4H2OÁ2THF was fortunately confirmed by X-ray
analysis after a series of efforts. The crystals suitable for the X-
ray diffraction were obtained by diffusion of hexane into saturated
THF solution. The crystal structure together with selected bonds
and angles are shown in Figure 1. It is clear that bis(ethyl) zircono-
cene in compound 1a is cationic. Also, it is interesting to find that
complex 1a is binuclear structure, different from the uninuclear
Figure 1. Crystal structure of [CH3CH2CpZr(OH2)3}2(
l
2-OH)2][OSO2C8F17]4Á4H2-
OÁ2THF] (1aÁ4H2OÁ2THF), Hydrogen atoms are omitted for clarity. Selected bond
distances (Å) and angles (°): Zr(1)–O(8), 2.110(5); Zr(1)–O(11), 2.130(5); Zr(1)–
O(8A), 2.170(5); Zr(1)–O(10), 2.194(5); Zr(1)–O(9), 2.202(5); Zr(1)–C(3), 2.505(8);
Zr(1)–C(4), 2.521(7); Zr(1)–Zr(1A), 3.5315(15); O(8)–Zr(1)–O(11), 94.8(2); O(8)–
Zr(1)–O(8A), 68.8(2); O(8)–Zr(1)–O(10), 150.8(2); O(10)–Zr(1)–O(9), 80.1(2); O(8)–
Zr(1)–C(3), 99.6(2); O(10)–Zr(1)–C(2), 131.0(2); C(2)–Zr(1)–C(4), 54.0(3); O(8)–
Zr(1)–Zr(1A), 34.96(13); C(5)–Zr(1)–Zr(1A), 153.99(19); Zr(1)–O(8)–Zr(1A),
111.2(2); The planes of the two Cp rings are parallel.
a relatively strong acidity with acid strength of 0.8 < H0 < 3.3 (H0
being the Hammett acidity function, see ESI), the same as that of
Cp2Zr(OSO2C8F17)2.16e Accordingly, these features of complex 1a
encouraged us to evaluate its performance as Lewis acid catalyst
in the one-pot three-component aza-Friedel–Crafts reactions of
indoles with aldehydes and tertiary aromatic amines. The reactions
generated the corresponding 3-diarylmethyl indoles in moderate
to good yields (Scheme 2).
structure of Cp2Zr(OSO2C8F17)2
16d even though their synthetic pro-
cedures are identical. And the zirconium atoms have a distorted
octahedral coordination with the Cp group trans to the OH unit,
We choose to study the three-component reaction of indole
with benzaldehyde and N,N-dimethylaniline as a model reaction
to determine the optimal reaction conditions (Table 1).19 In view
of the binuclear structure, 2.5 mol % 1a was used as catalyst.
Firstly, different solvents were screened at 100 °C to find that
ClCH2CH2Cl was the most effective solvent, giving the correspond-
ing product in 75% yield (entries 1–5). The yield was superior to
similar to that of [{CpZr(OH2)3}2(
l
2-OH)2] [C6F5SO3]4Á6H2O.18
The Zr–O distances of 1aÁ4H2OÁ2THF are 2.110(5), 2.130(5),
2.170(5), 2.194(5), and 2.202(5) Å, respectively. The Zr(2)–O(16)–
Zr(1) angle is 111.2(2)° and the Zr–Zr distance is 3.5315(15), show-
À
ing that there is no Zr–Zr interaction. The C8F17SO3 ions, the dis-
sociated H2O molecules, and the solvating ligand THF are packed
around the complex cation in such a way that their oxygen atoms
point toward the H2O ligands. The C8F17 chains of the anion, on the
other hand, are clustered together to produce hydrophobic do-
mains in the crystal structure.
The thermal behavior of complex 1a was investigated by ther-
mogravimetric-differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) in air
(Fig. S1, see ESI). The TV-DSC curves indicate three stages of weight
losses. The endothermic step below 100 °C can be attributed to the
removal of water molecules. The material is stable up to about
250 °C, after which weight loss of exothermic nature emerges, pos-
sibly resulting from the oxidation of organic entities. The removal
of perfluorooctanesulfuryl ligand at about 400 °C was observed,
thus leaving zirconium dichloride compounds. Conductivity
measurement was applied to investigate their ionic dissociation
behavior in CH3CN (Table S1, see ESI). The molar conductivity
that of FeCl3,20 its counterpart 5 mol % Cp2Zr(OSO2C8F17 2
and
)
[{CpZr(OH2)3}2(
l
2-OH)2] [C6F5SO3]4Á6H2O (entry 4). When the
reaction temperature and time were decreased to 80 °C and 12 h,
the yields were sharply decreased to 50% and 44%, respectively
(entries 4 and 6), demonstrating that the reaction temperature
and time were important to this system. Controlled experiments
showed that no product can be obtained in the absence of 1a (entry
7) and no obvious improvement of the yield was observed by
increasing the catalyst loading to 5.0 mol % (entry 8).
Subsequently, the scope of indoles and benzaldehydes for the
three-component aza-Friedel–Crafts reactions using 1a as catalyst
was evaluated (Table 2). It was found that indoles bearing electron-
donating groups, such as methyl and methoxyl (entries 2, 3, 9 and
10), showed slightly higher reactivity than those with electron-
withdrawing groups, like F, Cl, and Br (entries 4–6 and 8). It is
worth to note that no reaction was observed when 5-nitroindole
(bearing the strong electron-withdrawing group) was employed
as the substrate (entry 7). On the contrary, benzaldehydes bearing
electron-withdrawing groups (NO2, CN, Cl, entries 13–15) gave
(
K
) of 1aÁ4H2OÁ2THF) is 670
l
S cmÀ1 in CH3CN (1.0 mmol LÀ1) at
25 °C. The large molar conductivity value is consistent with com-
plete ionization into 1:4 electrolyte in CH3CN, implying that these
complexes are cationic in the solid state and in solution. Actually,
owing to the existence of ethyl, it is more soluble in some polar
organic solvents such as acetone, CH3CN, THF, EtOAc, and MeOH
(Table S2, see ESI) than the Cp2Zr(OSO2C8F17)2.16e Notably, it has
N
CHO
N
H
N
R2
1a
(2.5 mol%)
CH2ClCH2Cl, 100 oC, 24 h
R1
+
+
OH
H2O
2 equiv
2 H
R1
OH2
Zr
O
AgOSO C F
O
Cl
Cl
2
8
17
R2
Zr
Zr
• O S C8F17
O
•
4H2O•2THF
4
N
H
THF, rt.,
O
2 h, Dark
H
H2O
OH
H2O
2
Scheme 2. The aza-Friedel–Crafts reactions of indoles with aldehydes and N,N-
dimethylaniline catalyzed by complex 1a.
Scheme 1. Synthesis of 1aÁ4H2OÁ2THF.