Organic Process Research & Development
Article
91:9, 87:13, and 90:10, respectively, all favoring carbamate 15
formation (Table 1, entries 6−8).
Table 2. Carbamate (15, 17−19): Urea (16) Selectivity with
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and without MsOH as an Additive
With all the acids screened exhibiting excellent selectivity for
carbamate (15) formation, MsOH was chosen for further
optimization because of its low cost, availability on commercial
scale, atom economic properties, and nonhygroscopic nature.
Additionally, the imidazolium methanesulfonate salt (13,
Figure 3) formed as a byproduct in the reaction has low
organic and high aqueous solubility, offering the opportunity to
remove it via filtration or through an aqueous workup.
Further optimization focused on the evaluation of acid
equivalents and reaction temperature. Two additional control
experiments were conducted at 50 °C under neutral and acidic
conditions (Table 1, entries 9 and 13), both of which
demonstrated an increase in reaction rate when compared with
the analogous room temperature reactions (Table 1, entries 1
and 8). With that information in hand, MsOH was added at
room temperature in 0.5 equiv portions from 0 to 3.0 equiv,
and then the reaction vessel was heated to 50 °C. Selectivity
for carbamate 15 gradually improved with increasing
equivalents of acid until a product ratio of 90:10 was achieved
(Table 1, entry 13, 2.0 equiv of MsOH). Furthermore, the
product distribution at 50 °C mirrored the selectivity achieved
with 2.0 equiv of MsOH at room temperature, and the reaction
reached completion in only 2 h (Table 1, entries 8 and 13). No
benefit was apparent when 2.5 or 3.0 equiv of acid was utilized
(Table 1, entries 14 and 15). Overall, the addition of 2.0 equiv
of acid as well as an elevated reaction temperature maximized
selectivity while minimizing reaction time.
The preference for carbamate formation over the undesired
urea upon the addition of acid confirmed our initial hypothesis
(Figure 3). Mechanistically, the first equivalent of acid leads to
the protonation of the free imidazole generated after the
phenol-CDI activation; filtering the slurry following the
addition of 1.0 equiv of MsOH leads to the isolation of
imidazolium methanesulfonate 13. The second equivalent of
acid protonates the neutral acyl imidazole to form
alkoxycarbonyl cation 12, which results in the highly reactive
protonated imidazole leaving group and is the active species
responsible for the reversal of product distribution.
§
Conditions: Phenol (200 mg, 1.0 equiv), CDI (1.0 equiv), MsOH
(2.0 equiv), and piperidine (1.0 equiv) in CH3CN (15 mL/g) at 50
°C. Yields were determined by H NMR analysis utilizing mesitylene
as an internal standard. Isolated yields.
1
a
importance of a Brønsted acid additive for efficiently
synthesizing electron-deficient carbamates (Figure 3).
With optimized conditions in hand, the reaction was probed
for its ability to scale, versatility in substrate scope, and utility
for the synthesis of other substrate classes, specifically amides,
esters, and unsymmetrical ureas (Figure 4). To demonstrate
the practicality of this method on larger scale, all substrates
shown in Figure 4 were run on 1 g scale. To begin, electron-
deficient carbamates 15, 17, and 19 were synthesized with
isolated yields of 74%, 60%, and 55%, respectively, all of which
correspond closely to the 1H NMR yields observed in Table 2.
Acid-sensitive N-Boc piperazine was utilized to make
carbamate 20 in 88% yield with no observed degradation.
Furthermore, carbamate 21 generated from electron rich 4-
methoxyphenol was isolated in 86% yield. Finally, 6-
methylpyridin-3-ol was converted to alkyl carbamate 22 in
68% yield, demonstrating the tolerance of both alkyl amines
and basic heterocycles under the optimized reaction
conditions.
The synthesis of N-methylated amides using N-methyl-
imidazolium cations in conjunction with Brønsted acids was
recently disclosed by the Fuse group.22 In addition, amidations
from carboxylic acids using CDI and imidazole hydrochloride
as an acid additive to enhance reaction rate has been
demonstrated, albeit with a limited carboxylic acid substrate
scope.21 Utilizing MsOH as the acid additive, we expanded the
scope of this transformation to include heteroaromatic
carboxylic acids, sterically hindered amines and carboxylic
acids, and aliphatic amines. Fluoroaniline was coupled with 1-
methyl-4-pyrazolecarboxylic acid to afford amide 23 in 74%
yield. The same pyrazole carboxylic acid formed amide 26 in
To demonstrate the advantage of MsOH activation,
additional electron-deficient phenols were subjected to the
optimized conditions and reacted with piperidine (Table 2).
Control experiments without the inclusion of MsOH were also
run in parallel, and the product ratios of desired carbamate
1
(15, 17−19) to urea (16) were determined using H NMR
analysis. In each case, the experiments conducted in the
absence of MsOH revealed a strong preference for urea (16)
formation. Carbamate 17 generated from 2-(trifluoromethyl)-
pyrimidin-5-ol was formed in 4% without acid, increasing to
59% with MsOH present. The carbamate (18) resulting from
5-fluoro-2-hydroxypyridine was observed in 8% under neutral
conditions, favoring the formation of urea 16; however,
selectivity reversal was observed under acidic conditions,
resulting in 72% of carbamate 18. The carbamate (19) arising
from pentafluorophenol was not detected in the absence of
MsOH but was isolated in 49% after incorporation of acid.
Finally, 4-trifluoromethyl phenol adduct 15 achieved complete
suppression of urea 16 formation by the addition of MsOH
and resulted in 74% yield. This stark difference in carbamate
(15, 17−19) versus urea (16) selectivity achieved by the
formation of an alkoxycarbonyl cation (12) versus an
unactivated acyl imidazole (10) further highlights the
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Org. Process Res. Dev. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX