D
X. Shi et al.
Letter
Synlett
ry ammonium salt’ intermediate was proposed. However,
when the oxidant was switched to DTBP, no benzyl iodide
can be detected. Thus, we speculated that the molecular io-
dine as catalyst might play a role of Lewis acid 9a to activate
the isoquinoline and accelerate the subsequent aromatiza-
tion step. Since at the beginning of this reaction, only I2 was
added but no HI was generated yet; at the same time, in the
presence of excess oxidant (DTBP), HI would be readily oxi-
dized to I2. So we proposed that the molecular iodine was
more likely to act as the Lewis acid to activate the isoquino-
line than HI.
In conclusion, we have developed an efficient and prac-
tical iodine-catalyzed cross-dehydrogenative-coupling of
isoquinoline with benzylic C–H bonds via the Minisci-type
mechanism. This reaction can selectively realize C1- or N-
benyzlation of isoquinoline by choosing DTBP or TBHP as
the oxidant, respectively. This method utilizes unfunction-
alized isoquinoline and methylarenes as starting materials
and proceeds under metal-free conditions with good yields,
avoiding the usage of expensive metal catalysts and genera-
tion of halide and metal wastes, and thus is a practical
pathway for the C1-benzylation of isoquinolinone. Further
application of this strategy to other functionalization of
azaarenes is ongoing in our laboratory.
Ph
Ph
(2 equiv)
I2 (5 mol%)
Bn
Ph
H
+
(a)
N
+
Acknowledgment
N
DTBP (3 equiv)
Ph
Bn
130 °C, 12 h
This work was supported by the Opening Fund of Beijing National
Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Xiangtan University ‘Academic
Leader Program’ (11QDZ20), Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foun-
dation (2016JJ2122). The authors declare no competing financial in-
terest.
1a
2b
3b, N.D.
5, 12%
I2 (5 mol%)
DTBP
C7H8
C7D8
N
N
(b)
+
+
N
130 °C, 6 h
Bn
Bn-d7
C7H8/C7D8 (v/v) = 1:1
KIE = 2.8:1
Supporting Information
I
[O] = TBHP
I2 (5 mol%)
Supporting information for this article is available online at
[O] (3 equiv)
can be detected
I
H
(c)
S
u
p
p
ortiInfogrmoaitn
S
u
p
p
o
nrtogI
f
rmoaitn
+
N
130 °C, 12 h
[O] = DTBP
(dried by Na)
References and Notes
can't be detected
(1) (a) Topics in Heterocyclic Chemistry, Bioactive Heterocycles V;
Gupta, R. R., Ed.; Springer: New York, 2008. (b) Bhadra, K.;
Kumar, G. S. Med. Res. Rev. 2011, 31, 821. (c) Campeau, L.-C.;
Fagnou, K. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2007, 36, 1058. (d) Michael, J. P. Nat.
Prod. Rep. 2008, 25, 166. (e) Bentley, K. W. Nat. Prod. Rep. 2006,
23, 444.
Scheme 4 Mechanistic investigation on the iodine-catalyzed CDC
According to the above analysis, a plausible mechanism
is proposed in Scheme 5, with the reaction of isoquinoline
(1a) and toluene (2b) as an example. First, the homolytic
cleavage of DTBP forms tert-butoxy radical, which abstracts
the benzylic hydrogen atom of toluene to provide the ben-
zyl radical. At the same time, molecular iodine as a Lewis
acid coordinates with isoquinoline to increase its electro-
philicity.9a Then, the benzyl radical adds to the activated
electron-deficient isoquinoline (A) to afford the intermedi-
ate (B), which would eliminate the hydroiodide to afford
the benzylated product 3b. The molecular iodine can be re-
generated by the oxidation of iodide anions by the peroxide
or tert-butyl hypoiodite generated in situ.9d
(2) Hagel, J. M.; Facchini, P. J. Plant Cell Physiol. 2013, 54, 647.
(3) For reviews on Minisci reaction, see: (a) McCallum, T.; Jouanno,
L.-A.; Cannillo, A.; Barriault, L. Synlett 2016, 27, 1282.
(b) Tauber, J.; Imbr, D.; Opatz, T. Molecules 2014, 19, 16190.
(c) Duncton, M. A. J. Med. Chem. Commun. 2011, 2, 1135.
(d) Punta, C.; Minisci, F. Trends Heterocycl. Chem. 2008, 13, 1.
(4) For recent examples on Minisci-type alkylation of heterocycles
with functionalized starting materials as radical sources, see:
(a) Daniel, G. M. S.; Kimberly, A. W.; Joseph, P. L.; Anthony, A. E.
Tetrahedron Lett. 2015, 56, 4063. (b) DiRocco, D. A.; Dykstra, K.;
Krska, S.; Vachal, P.; Conway, D. V.; Tudge, M. Angew. Chem. Int.
Ed. 2014, 53, 4802. (c) Bohman, B.; Berntsson, B.; Dixon, R. C.
M.; Stewart, C. D.; Barrow, R. A. Org. Lett. 2014, 16, 2787. (d) Xia,
R.; Xie, M.-S.; Niu, H.-Y.; Qu, G.-R.; Guo, H.-M. Org. Lett. 2014,
16, 444. (e) Leverrier, A.; Bero, J.; Frederich, M.; Quetin-Leclercq,
J.; Palermo, J. Eur. J. Med. Chem. 2013, 66, 355. (f) Duncton, M. A.
J.; Estiarte, M. A.; Johnson, R. J.; Cox, M.; O’Mahony, D. J. R.;
Edwards, W. T.; Kelly, M. G. J. Org. Chem. 2009, 74, 6354.
tBuOOBut
tBuO•
H2C
H
Ph
N
Ph
tBuO•
tBuOH
2b
N
N
H
I
tBuOI
(5) For Minisci-type alkylation of heterocycles with C(sp3)–H bonds
as radical sources, see: (a) Devariab, S.; Shah, B. A. Chem.
Commun. 2016, 52, 1490. (b) Jin, J.; MacMillan, D. W. C. Angew.
Chem. Int. Ed. 2015, 54, 1565. (c) Antonchick, A. P.; Burgmann, L.
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 3267. (d) Wu, Z.; Pi, C.; Cui, X.;
I2
+
HI
Bn
3b
δ–
Bn
δ+
N
I
B
I
A
tBuOI
HI
tBuOH
+ I2
Scheme 5 Proposed mechanism for the iodine-catalyzed CDC
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York — Synlett 2016, 27, A–E