10.1002/ejoc.202001457
European Journal of Organic Chemistry
COMMUNICATION
Smith, V. Shanmugasundaram, K. Wade, Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2011,
21, 5230–5233; c) N. Desroy, F. Moreau, S. Briet, G. L. Fralliec, S.
Floquet, L. Durant, V. Vongsouthi, V. Gerusz, A. Denis, S. Escaich,
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For an early example, see: a) G. P. Gardini, F. Minisci, G. Palla,
Tetrahedron Lett. 1971, 12, 59–62. For reviews, see: b) F. Minisci,
Synthesis 1973, 1–24; c) F. Minisci, E. Vismara, F. Fontana,
Heterocycles 1989, 28, 489–519; d) R. S. J. Proctor, R. J. Phipps, Angew.
Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 13666–13699; Angew. Chem. 2019, 131,
(Scheme 6). All the cyclization products (6–9) are highly likely to
be produced from 3,3-bis(ethoxycarbonyl)-5-hexene-1-sulfonyl
radical (III). Sulfonylradical III cyclizes, as it stands[10] and after
decomposition to alkyl radical V with elimination of SO2,[11] to give
alkyl radicals IV and VI, which undergo HAS with 2’a giving 6/8
and hydrogen abstraction giving 7/9. The result shows that
alkanesulfonyl radicals are involved as leaving groups in the a-
heteroarylation.
[2]
On the basis of the above experimental results and our
previous report,[4] the a-heteroarylation of alkylamides is likely to
proceed through the mechanism shown in Scheme 7. Thus, the
reaction is initiated by hydrogen abstraction from an alkylamide
(1) by t-BuO• generated through homolysis of t-BuON=NOt-Bu
(step a). The resulting a-(acylamino)alkyl radical (I) adds to a
methanesulfonylheteroarene (2) (step b), followed by elimination
13802–13837. For examples of of the Minisci reaction under
a
photoredox catalysis, see: e) Y. Zhang, K. B. Teuscher, H. Ji, Chem. Sci.
2016, 7, 2111–2118; f) J. Dong, Q. Xia, X. Lv, C. Yan, H. Song, Y. Liu,
Q. Wang, Org. Lett. 2018, 20, 5661–5665. For benzothiazoles: g) J.
Wang, J. Li, J. Huang, Q. Zhu, J. Org. Chem. 2016, 81, 3017–3022.
For recent examples of alkylation of 2-chlorobenzazoles and
alkane(arene)sulfonylheteroarenes, see: a) A. Lipp, G. Lahm, T. Opatz,
J. Org. Chem. 2016, 81, 4890–4897; b) S. Kamijo, K. Kamijo, T. Murafuji,
J. Org. Chem. 2017, 82, 2664–2671; c) S. Kamijo, K. Kamijo, T. Murafuji,
Synthesis 2019, 51, 3859–3864; d) N. P. Ramirez, T. Lana-Villarreal, J.
C. Gonzalez-Gomez, Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2020, 1539–1550.
[3]
•
of MeSO2 from II to give the a-heteroarylation product (3) (step
•
c). Finally, MeSO2 undergoes hydrogen abstraction from 1 to
regenerate I (step d). Step d is likely to be thermodynamically
unfavorable,[7] and thus an excess amount of 1 are required to
step forward.[12]
[4]
[5]
Y. Ikeda, R. Ueno, Y. Akai, E. Shirakawa, Chem. Commun. 2018, 54,
10471–10474.
We had reported, before ref. [4], the direct a-arylation of alkylamines with
aryl halides utilizing a stoichiometric amount of a tert-butoxy radical
precursor. The radical chain is not operative because the eliminated halo
radical oxidizes the a-aminoalkyl radical (I in Scheme 1) to give the
corresponding iminium halide rather than undergoes hydrogen atom
abstraction from the amine. R. Ueno, Y. Ikeda, E. Shirakawa, Eur. J. Org.
Chem. 2017, 4188–4193.
N
O
MeSO2
R2
Z
R4
R1
N
Z = O, S
N
R3
2
1/2 t-BuON=NOt-Bu
Z
R4
MeSO2
– 1/2 N2
II
b
t-BuO•
R2
N
R2
O
O
[6]
We have also reported the direct a-arylation of alcohols with aryl
chlorides (and bromides) by the use of a substoichiometric amount of a
tert-butoxy radical precursor. Here the radical chain is operative because
the stabilities of halo radicals and a-hydroxyalkyl radicals are
comparable. K. Aoki, K. Yonekura, Y. Ikeda, R. Ueno, E. Shirakawa, Adv.
Synth. Catal. 2020, 362, 2200–2204.
c
N
a
R1
R1
H
R3
R3
t-BuOH
R2
N
O
I
1
O
N
R1
S
Me
Me
O
base
d
R3
R4
Z
O
MeSO2H•base
Me
S
e
3
O
H
[7]
[8]
The Gibbs free energy values ΔG (kcal/mol) at 298 K for the reaction of
O
O
R2
O
a sulfonyl radical with DMA are estimated by DFT calculations using
S
N
•
•
R1
(U)B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) to be +8.6 and +7.9 for PhSO2 and MeSO2 ,
H
R3
•
respectively, whereas that of the reaction of PhSO2 with
1
isopropyldimethylamine is estimated to be +6.2 kcal/mol.
The pKa values of the conjugated acids of KHCO3, K2HPO4, K2CO3 and
K3PO4 are reported to be 6.4, 7.2, 10.3 and 12.7, respectively. a) J. W.
B. Fyfe, E. Valverde, C. P. Seath, A. R. Kennedy, J. M. Redmond, N. A.
Anderson, A. J. B. Watson, Chem. Eur. J. 2015, 21, 8951–8964. The pKa
value of MeSO2H is reported to be 2.3. b) F. Wudl, D. A. Lightner, D. J.
Cram, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1967, 89, 4099–4101.
Scheme 7. A plausible mechanism.
In conclusion, we have expanded the substrate scope of
nitrogen-containing aliphatic compounds to alkylamides in the a-
arylation with sulfonylarenes by tuning the sulfonyl radical leaving
group.
[9]
For discussion on the radical structures and stabilization energies of
cyclic alkylamines such as pyrrolidine, see: D. D. M. Wayner, K. B. Clark,
A. Rauk, D. Yu, D. A. Armstrong, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 8925–
8932.
[10] Alkanesulfonyl radicals having an alkene moiety, such as 4-
pentenesulfonyl radical, are reported to undergo the intramolecular
cyclization reaction. A. Tsimelzon, R. Braslau, J. Org. Chem. 2005, 70,
10854–10859.
Acknowledgements
This work has been supported financially in part by Grant-in-Aids
for Scientific Research (B) (16H04151 to E.S.) and Scientific
Research (B) (19H02728 to E.S.).
[11] Methanesulfonyl radical is reported to decompose into SO2 and methyl
radical but a high temperature is required. S. Kim, H.-J. Song, T.-L. Choi,
J.-Y. Yoon, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2001, 40, 2524–2526; Angew. Chem.
2001, 113, 2592–2594.
[12] Considering the operation of a radical chain, we propose the mechanism
shown in Scheme 7. However, another mechanism may be operative,
considering the report that sulfinic acids are good hydrogen atom donors
with alkyl radicals: M. Griesser, J.-P. R. Chauvin, D. A. Pratt, Chem. Sci.
2018, 9, 7218–7229.
Keywords: a-heteroarylation • alkylamides •
sulfonylheteroarenes • radical mechanism • t-BuO• source
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4
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