A one-pot isomerization-arylation of 2,3-epoxycyclohexanone under controlled microwave heating

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo0504619

A fast one-pot method has been developed for the direct preparation of 3-aryl-1,2-cyclohexanediones from 2,3-epoxycyclohexanone via a microwave-assisted tandem epoxy ketone isomerization-Heck arylation reaction. The preparative microwave-assisted reactions were performed preferentially in 50% aqueous poly(ethylene glycol) utilizing sodium acetate as the base. Within 5-30 min of directed microwave heating, employing less than 0.05 mol % of palladium acetate and no phosphine ligand, up to 72% yield of C3-arylated dike tones was isolated in an overall environmentally benign process. On the basis of the chemical reactivity of proposed intermediates, a reaction pathway is proposed where the acetate base promotes the rearrangement of the 2,3-epoxycyclohexanone into the active mono-enol form of 1,2-cyclohexanedione. An alternative classically heated procedure for isomerization-C3-arylation of 2,3-epoxycyclohexanone in DMF is also reported.

Full text of DOI:10.1021/jo0504619

A One-Pot Isomerization-Arylation of 2,3-Epoxycyclohexanone
under Controlled Microwave Heating
Andreas Svennebring, Neeraj Garg, Peter Nilsson, Anders Hallberg, and Mats Larhed*
Organic Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala Biomedical Centre,
Uppsala University, Box 574, SE-751 23 Uppsala, Sweden
mats@orgfarm.uu.se
Received March 9, 2005
A fast one-pot method has been developed for the direct preparation of 3-aryl-1,2-cyclohexanediones
from 2,3-epoxycyclohexanone via a microwave-assisted tandem epoxy ketone isomerization-Heck
arylation reaction. The preparative microwave-assisted reactions were performed preferentially in
50% aqueous poly(ethylene glycol) utilizing sodium acetate as the base. Within 5-30 min of directed
microwave heating, employing less than 0.05 mol % of palladium acetate and no phosphine ligand,
up to 72% yield of C3-arylated diketones was isolated in an overall environmentally benign process.
On the basis of the chemical reactivity of proposed intermediates, a reaction pathway is proposed
where the acetate base promotes the rearrangement of the 2,3-epoxycyclohexanone into the active
mono-enol form of 1,2-cyclohexanedione. An alternative classically heated procedure for isomer-
ization-C3-arylation of 2,3-epoxycyclohexanone in DMF is also reported.
Introduction
We have previously disclosed that 3-aryl-1,2-cyclohex-
anediones (3) can be synthesized directly from aryl
bromides (2) and 1,2-cyclohexanedione (4) employing
Pd(0) catalysis under Heck coupling conditions.3,10 How-
ever, attempted vinylic substitution of the mono-enol
form of 1,3-cyclohexanedione to produce the correspond-
ing C2-arylated 1,3-diketone under mild basic conditions
provided no product.3,11 During initial testing, we sus-
pected that the strong tendency for complexation between
1,3-cyclohexanedione and transition metal ions might
inhibit the catalytic process by over-ligation of essential
palladium species.12 This led us to study the possibilities
for successive in situ generation of 1,3-cyclohexanedione
from 2,3-epoxycyclohexanone (1) utilizing Noyori’s well-
recognized Pd(0)-catalyzed epoxy ketone isomerization
method,13,14 followed by a subsequent Heck arylation15-18
of the released 1,3-cyclohexanedione. Under these condi-
The 1,2-cyclohexanedione moiety is known to primarily
exist in the mono-enol form and constitutes a valuable
and rigid hydrogen bond accepting/donating core struc-
ture for medicinal chemistry applications.1-3 Because of
structural similarities, this cyclic diketone functionality
might also be regarded as a bioisostere of a weak car-
boxylic acid.4 Furthermore, 1,2-cyclohexanedione deriva-
tives are valuable starting materials in heterocyclic
chemistry since several ring structures may be formed
through double nucleophilic addition followed by dehy-
dration.5-8 C3-arylated 1,2-cyclohexanediones have also
emerged as precursors to corresponding 3-arylcatechols
via a smooth aromatization process.9
(1) Alterman, M.; Andersson, H. O.; Garg, N.; Ahlsen, G.; Loevgren,
S.; Classon, B.; Danielson, U. H.; Kvarnstroem, I.; Vrang, L.; Unge,
T.; Samuelsson, B.; Hallberg, A. J. Med. Chem. 1999, 42, 3835-3844.
(2) Markgren, P.-O.; Schaal, W.; Haemaelaeinen, M.; Karlen, A.;
Hallberg, A.; Samuelsson, B.; Danielson, U. H. J. Med. Chem. 2002,
45, 5430-5439.
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4162.
(4) The pKa value of 1,2-cyclohexanedione has been determined to
9.9 by a potentiometric method, see ref 3.
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ky, A. R., Ed.; Pergamon Press: New York, 1984; Vol. 3, pp 157-197.
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Wang, Y.; Lindsley, C. W. Tetrahedron Lett. 2004, 45, 4873-4876.
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Zhao, Z.; Lindsley, C. W. Org. Lett. 2004, 6, 1453-1456.
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C. W. Tetrahedron Lett. 2003, 44, 1123-1127.
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Lett. 1988, 29, 73-74.
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Bas 1988, 107, 230-236.
10.1021/jo0504619 CCC: $30.25 © 2005 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 05/06/2005
4720
J. Org. Chem. 2005, 70, 4720-4725

Isomerization-Arylation of 2,3-Epoxycyclohexanone
dium,21 we decided to investigate this heating method
under otherwise identical PPh3-stabilized aqueous DMF
conditions. Disappointingly, all attempts to carry out the
isomerization-arylation reaction with 2f at 150-180 °C
with otherwise classical conditions resulted in low yields
and problematic purification of 3a due to aryl scrambling
(p-Tol-Pd(PPh3)2X f Ph-Pd[P(p-Tol)Ph2](PPh3)X)22-25 and
accommodating problematic purifications.
SCHEME 1
A number of protocols for the utilization of aryl
bromides in Heck couplings have recently been identified
by using ligand-free reaction cocktails and only trace or
homeopathic amounts of palladium.26-30 From a prepara-
tive standpoint a phosphine-free catalyst is highly ben-
eficial since aryl scrambling is avoided and triarylphos-
phines are difficult to remove.31 Among available solvent
alternatives, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) is known to
promote Heck vinylation of various aryl bromides under
phosphine-free conditions.32 PEG has also been recog-
nized as a particularly green solvent33 and has been
suggested to act as a phase transfer catalyst in Heck
reactions with inorganic bases.34 To invent a high-speed
microwave promoted protocol for arylation of 1 allowing
a low catalytic loading, aqueous poly(ethylene glycol)
(PEG 200) was in initial experiments found to be a
promising reaction medium.
We selected the rearrangement-arylation of 1 with 2a
using only 0.05 mol % of Pd(OAc)2 and 20 min of
microwave heating at 150 °C as an appropriate PEG
model reaction for preparative optimization (Table 2). All
reactions were performed in 1.0 mmol scale utilizing
septum-sealed and microwave-transparent Pyrex vials.
The highest yields of product 3a resulted when 50%
aqueous PEG 200 (entries 4 and 9-11) was used. It
should also be noted that use of pure water or pure PEG
afforded inefficient reactions. An additional advantage
with aqueous PEG 200 concerned the convenient puri-
fication method. A rapid filtration of the cool reaction
mixture through a short silica plug removed unreacted
2a along with dehalogenated and homocoupled biaryl
compounds, permitting pure 3a to be separately eluated.
The reaction showed good productivity with catalyst
loadings as low as 0.05 mol %, although yields dropped
tions, the potentially chelating 1,3-diketone would be
present only in small amounts during the course of the
reaction, avoiding efficient trapping and deactivation of
catalytic metal. To our surprise, starting from 1 and with
an excess of bromobenzene (2a), only the isomeric 3-phen-
yl-1,2-cyclohexanedione (3a) was formed under the em-
ployed Heck conditions (Scheme 1). This finding encour-
aged us to investigate the synthetic value and the
reaction route of this novel transformation.
Results
The isomerization-C3-arylation protocol initially em-
ployed for the 1 to 3 interconversion was similar to the
earlier reported protocol for the Heck arylation3 of 1,2-
diketone 4: 5.0 mol % of Pd(OAc)2, 12.0 mol % of PPh3
(triphenylphosphine), 1.0 equiv of 1, 4.0 equiv of 2, and
4.0 equiv of DIEA (diisopropylethylamine) in aqueous
DMF. When applying these palladium(0) conditions with
nonhindered electron-rich or neutral aryl bromides and
classical oil bath heating at 100 °C for 17-41 h in sealed
vessels, the resulting product mixture comprised pre-
dominantly C3-arylated 3 (Table 1, classical conditions).
In fact, the DMF-based classical protocol enabled isola-
tion of 3a,d-g, in useful (45-72%) yields, although
p-anisyl bromide (2c) delivered no arylated product
whatsoever. Reacting electron-deficient aryl bromides led
only to low (3k) or no yields and an extensive formation
of dehalogenated arenes and biaryl side products. In this
preparative attempt, as well as in the previously reported
direct arylation of 4, sterically hindered 2l,m provided
only very low yields (entries 12 and 13). Important from
a mechanistic point of view, small amounts of intermedi-
ate 4 could be detected by GC-MS in most isomerization-
arylation entries during the reaction progress. Overall,
the yields of isolated 3 were comparable with the results
previously obtained starting with pure 4.3 Attempts to
substitute the aryl bromides for iodides or triflates under
classical reaction conditions were unsuccessful. In the
case of aryl triflates, no significant conversions took place,
and with aryl iodides, a rapid conversion into biaryl
structures immediately consumed the arylating agent.
Since rapid single-mode microwave heating19,20 to high
temperatures is known to decomplex trapped palla-
(20) Kappe, C. O. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2004, 43, 6250-6284.
(21) Larhed, M.; Moberg, C.; Hallberg, A. Acc. Chem. Res. 2002, 35,
717-727.
(22) Andersson, C. M.; Hallberg, A.; Daves, G. D., Jr. J. Org. Chem.
1987, 52, 3529-3536.
(23) Herrmann, W. A.; Brossmer, C.; Oefele, K.; Beller, M.; Fischer,
H. J. Organomet. Chem. 1995, 491, C1-C4.
(24) Morita, D. K.; Stille, J. K.; Norton, J. R. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1995,
117, 8576-8581.
(25) Goodson, F. E.; Wallow, T. I.; Novak, B. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc.
1997, 119, 12441-12453.
(26) Reetz, M. T.; Westermann, E.; Lohmer, R.; Lohmer, G. Tetra-
hedron Lett. 1998, 39, 8449-8452.
(27) Yao, Q.; Kinney, E. P.; Yang, Z. J. Org. Chem. 2003, 68, 7528-
7531.
(28) de Vries, A. H. M.; Mulders, J.; Mommers, J. H. M.; Henderickx,
H. J. W.; de Vries, J. G. Org. Lett. 2003, 5, 3285-3288.
(29) Reetz, M. T.; de Vries, J. G. Chem. Commun. 2004, 1559-1563.
(30) Arvela, R. K.; Leadbeater, N. E. J. Org. Chem. 2005, 70, 1786-
1790.
(15) De Meijere, A.; Meyer, F. E. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl. 1994,
33, 2379-2411.
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3066.
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2305-2308.
(17) Whitcombe, N. J.; Hii, K. K.; Gibson, S. E. Tetrahedron 2001,
57, 7449-7476.
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R. Org. Lett. 2002, 4, 4399-4401.
(18) Larhed, M.; Hallberg, A. In Handbook of Organopalladium
Chemistry for Organic Synthesis; Negishi, E.-i., Ed.; Wiley-Inter-
science: New York, 2002; Vol. 1, pp 1133-1178.
(19) Lidstro¨m, P.; Tierney, J.; Wathey, B.; Westman, J. Tetrahedron
2001, 57, 9225-9283.
(33) Andrade, C. K. Z.; Alves, L. M. Curr. Org. Chem. 2005, 9, 195-
218.
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Sci., Ser. II: Chem. 1998, 1, 777-780.
J. Org. Chem, Vol. 70, No. 12, 2005 4721

Svennebring et al.
TABLE 1. Rearrangement-Arylation of Expoxyketone 1 under Classical or Microwave Conditions
a Classical conditions: 1.0 mmol of 1, 0.05 mmol of Pd(OAc)2, 0.12 mmol of PPh3, 4 mmol of 2, 4 mmol of DIEA, 0.75 mL of water, and
4.25 mL of DMF in sealed vessels. Microwave conditions: 1.0 mmol of 1, 20 µL of 25 mM Pd(OAc)2 in MeCN (0.05 mol-% Pd), 1.5-10
mmol of 2, 4 mmol of NaOAc, 3 mL of 50% aqueous PEG in sealed vessels. b Irradiation time for microwave heated reactions. The different
ramp times were: rt f 130 °C ) 40 s; rt f 150 °C and rt f 180 °C (75% H2O) ) 50 s; rt f 180 °C (50% H2O) ) 60 s. c 95% purity by
GC-MS and 1H NMR. d 75% aqueous PEG used as solvent. e Water:PEG:t-BuOH 2:1:1 used as solvent.
considerably upon further reduction in palladium con-
centration (Table 2, entry 8). All attempts to further
accelerate the protocol by elevating the temperature
above 150 °C reduced yields. Sodium acetate was found
to be a highly suitable base, while DIEA afforded es-
sentially no 3a and the isolated compound was mixed
with reduced 3-phenyl-2-cyclohexenone and small amounts
of 3-phenyl-cyclohexanone.35 The poor results with DIEA
were unexpected when compared to the successful ex-
amples with aqueous DMF at 100 °C and classical oil
bath heating (Table 1). A similar reduction obstacle in
Heck arylations of R,â-unsaturated ketones was previ-
ously solved by addition of acetate anions to the reaction
mixture.36 The concomitant use of NaOAc and DIEA as
a combined base pair under PEG-microwave conditions
prevented the formation of saturated side products
although the yield suffered to a moderate 25% (Table 2,
entry 13). The addition of PPh3 to the developed protocol
afforded a less efficient reaction (entry 14), and was also
experienced with use of classical conductive oil bath
(35) A set of different bases was screened. In short, under microwave
conditions NaOAc was much superior also to K2CO3, KHCO3, K3PO4,
Na2HPO4, NaH2PO4, Et3N, and triethanolamine. For R-arylation with
strong bases, see: Culkin D, A.; Hartwig, J. F. Acc. Chem. Res. 2003,
36, 234-245.
(36) Amorese, A.; Arcadi, A.; Bernocchi, E.; Cacchi, S.; Cerrini, S.;
Fedeli, W.; Ortar, G. Tetrahedron 1989, 45, 813-828.
4722 J. Org. Chem., Vol. 70, No. 12, 2005

Isomerization-Arylation of 2,3-Epoxycyclohexanone
TABLE 2. Rearrangement-Arylation of 1 with 2a under
arylation to produce the 3,6-diarylated products in minor
amounts at temperatures above 150 °C. The formation
of diarylated products was enhanced not only by high
temperature, but also by high water concentration and
a large excess of 2.39 Importantly, the microwave reac-
tions presented in Table 1 afforded less than 1% of
diarylated compound. Since R-arylation also took place
when 1 was replaced by cyclohexanone or acetophenone
at 180 °C furnishing 7% and 13% yields of each monoary-
lated product, this reaction must be assumed to be
general for standard mono-ketones with weakly basic
NaOAc.35
By using the microwave protocol, aryl iodides could be
utilized as arylating agents; however, there was a
pronounced difference in the reaction outcome compared
with more productive aryl bromides. Despite the use of
identical conditions with 1.0 equiv of 1, 0.05 mol % of
Pd(OAc)2, 4 equiv of aryl iodide, and 4 equiv of NaOAc
in 50% aqueous PEG 200 at 150 °C for 20 min, the
highest isolated yields acquired were in the synthesis of
3a and 3f (29% and 31%, respectively). Incomplete
conversions and homocoupling plagued the reactions.
This result was not expected since aryl iodides undergo
oxidative addition faster than the corresponding bro-
mides, although it has been suggested that the reactivity
and stoichiometry of the oxidative addition products of
aryl bromides and aryl iodides are substantially dif-
ferent.15-18,40 To further investigate this finding, a com-
petitive reaction following the general microwave proce-
dure (150 °C, 20 min) was accomplished, using 4 equiv
each of m-tolyl bromide (2g) and phenyl iodide. GC-MS
and 1H NMR analysis showed an incomplete conversion
of 1 and that phenyl-substituted 3a (19%) was the only
product, suggesting an efficient trapping of available
Pd(0) by the phenyl iodide followed by an inefficient
insertion of the generated Ph-Pd-I complex into the enol
double bond of intermediate 4. Utilization of aryl triflates
with the microwave protocol afforded low conversion and
no arylation, favoring competing phenol formation by
oxidation of 4. Aryl chlorides delivered no product 3 under
these conditions.
Various Microwave Conditionsa
Pd(OAc)2
(mol %)
isolated
entry
base
solvent
PEG
15% aq PEG
25% aq PEG
50% aq PEG
75% aq PEG
90% aq PEG
Water
50% aq PEG
50% aq PEG
50% aq PEG
50% aq PEG
50% aq PEG
50% aq PEG
yield (%)b
1
2
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.02
0.10
0.20
0.5
NaOAc
NaOAc
NaOAc
NaOAc
NaOAc
NaOAc
NaOAc
NaOAc
NaOAc
NaOAc
NaOAc
DIEA
17
67
66
72
46
22
8
3
4
5
6
7
8
23c
67
70
80
<3c,d
25
9
10
11
12
13
0.05
0.05
NaOAc
DIEA
NaOAc
NaOAc
14
15
0.05
0.05
50% aq PEG
50% aq PEG
33e
52c,f
a Septum-sealed vessel loaded with the following: 1.0 mmol of
1, Pd(OAc)2 in 20 µL of MeCN, 1.5 mmol of 2a, 4 mmol of base, 3
mL of reaction medium. Heating at 150 °C for 20 min under N2.
b >95% purity by GC-MS. c <95% conversion of 1 and 4 by
GC-MS. d Isolated 3a below purity standards. e 0.10 mol % of
PPh3 added. f Oil bath heating employed.
heating (entry 15).21 In conclusion, the conditions in entry
4 (Table 2) utilizing 0.05 mol % of Pd(OAc)2 and 50% aq
PEG were selected as our standard microwave protocol
because of the high catalytic efficiency (turn-over fre-
quency ) 4320 h-1), despite the fact that an increased
concentration of Pd(OAc)2 afforded slightly higher yields
(entry 11).
We next decided to probe the substrate scope of the
selected low catalyst protocol (microwave conditions,
Table 1). Fine-tuning of the microwave heating protocol
resulted in higher yields in the tandem isomerization-
arylation reaction of 1 as compared with the classical
protocol. This was true in all cases except entry 11. It
should also be noted that an excess of 2 and a higher
reaction temperature were required with more sluggish
ortho-substituted substrates (Table 1, entries 12 and 13).
Use of electron-rich 2b resulted in improved yields and
a general reduction in reaction time while the electron-
deficient arylating agents generally produced lower yields
(entries 8-11). In a number of reactions, intermediate 4
was again clearly identified before continued heating
converted the diketone into product 3. To our great
dissatisfaction, all other investigated 2,3-epoxyketones
were not found to react accordingly,37 thereby limiting
the generality of the presented isomerization-arylation
method.
Discussion
We propose that the general reaction pathway depicted
in the lower part of Scheme 1 for the one-pot 1 to 3
transformation takes place in both DMF (classical condi-
tions) and PEG (microwave conditions). After the es-
sential formation of enol 4, a subsequent Heck C3-aryla-
tion takes place, exploiting a Pd(0) catalytic system
generated by reduction of Pd(OAc)2.18 To further under-
stand the complete reaction route, we decided to next
investigate the intriguing rearrangement process under
both reaction conditions.
Classical Conditions. When control reactions were
carried out with metal block heating at 100 °C for 17 h
in 15% aqueous DMF excluding both 2 and Pd(OAc)2, 1
was only partly converted to 4 even though PPh3 (0.12
The most abundant byproducts included the corre-
sponding dehalogenated arenes and symmetrical biaryls
of 2. The major reason for the somewhat moderate
isolated yields was, however, connected to thermal
degradation of 1 and/or 4, plus oxidation/aromatization
of 3 to form 3-hydroxybiaryls.38 Electronically neutral and
electron-rich 2a,d-g tended to also promote a second
(37) The following compounds have been tested: 2,3-epoxy-4,4-
dimethylcyclohexenone, 2,3-epoxycyclopentanone, chalconoxide, and
benzalacetoneoxide.
(38) Typically, several byproducts assigned to be aliphatic ketones
according to observed 13C NMR peaks could be released with ether
from the flash silica column after elution of 3 (corresponding to
10-40% of utilized 1).
(39) To determine the structure of the byproduct, the Heck reaction
was performed, using an excess of 2a with 3 h of microwave heating
at 180 °C. Not more than 12% of the 3,6-diarylated product could be
isolated.
(40) Wolfe, J. P.; Buchwald, S. L. J. Org. Chem. 1996, 61, 1133-
1135.
J. Org. Chem, Vol. 70, No. 12, 2005 4723

Svennebring et al.
TABLE 3. Arylation of Structure 1, 4, 5b, 6a, and 6b
with 2a under Various Microwave Conditionsa
SCHEME 2
isolated yield (%)b
equiv
entry substrate of 2a
base
3a
7b
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
4
1.5
4
4
1.5
4
NaOCO-t-Bu
NaOAc
13
54
45
45
23
45
0
4
trans-5bc
trans-5bc
6ac
NaOAc
25
13
NaOCO-t-Bu
NaOAc
NaOAc
6bc
22
a Septum-sealed vessel loaded with the following: 1.0 mmol of
1, 4, 5b, 6a, or 6b, 0.05 mol % of Pd(OAc)2, 1.5 or 4.0 mmol of 2a,
4 mmol of base, and 3 mL of 50% aqueous PEG. Reactions were
heated at 150 °C for 20 min. b >95% purity by GC-MS. c For
synthesis of 5b, 6a, and 6b, see the Supporting Information.
zene (2a) as the arylpalladium precursor, using both of
the carboxylate bases and a number of preolefins as
substrates (Table 3). Thus, replacement of NaOAc for
sodium pivaloate in the preparative arylation of 1 with
2a furnished a complex product mixture and low yield
of 3a (13%, entry 1). This result indicated that the
pivaloate anion to some extent might act as an acetate
surrogate, enabling ring-opening, enol generation, and
final Heck arylation, although all examples proceeding
through pivaloate intermediates occurred more sluggish
and with extensive phenol formation compared to analo-
gous acetate promoted reactions (Table 3). As expected,
the direct arylation of cyclohexanedione 4 in entry 2
provided a cleaner process, allowing the isolation of 3a
in 54% yield. We believe that thermal decomposition of
4 explains the lower yield compared to the corresponding
reaction with 1.3 Alcohol trans-5b is thought to act as
the pivaloate analogue to reactive 5a in the reaction
cascade and its use afforded both C3-phenylated nonhy-
drolyzed 7b and enol product 3a, regardless of the choice
of carboxylate salt (Table 3, entries 3 and 4). Reward-
ingly, arylation of pivaloate olefin 6b under otherwise
general PEG conditions gave an almost identical product
outcome (45% 3a and 22% 7b) as observed with trans-
5b. The acetate analogue 6a provided product 3a in 23%
yield without any traces of a potential intermediate 7a
(entry 5). It is intresting to note the product difference
between the arylation of acetate ester 6a and the
artificial pivaloate substrates trans-5b and 6b. With 6a,
the absence of detected intermediate 7a supports a rapid
hydrolysis and a subsequent arylation of free 4. In
contrast, the more stable vinyl carboxylate 6b must be
recognized as a true Heck vinyl substrate (Scheme 2).
We interpret the results obtained accordingly: Under
preparative microwave conditions with NaOAc, the as-
sumed isomerization of 1 is suggested to be initiated by
the nucleophilic addition of acetate to the R-carbonyl
forming the short-lived cis/trans-adduct 5a, followed by
base-promoted elimination to 2-acetoxycyclohex-2-enone
(6a, Scheme 2). Structure 6a thereafter undergoes cleav-
age of the ester to produce intermediate 4, followed by
the Pd(0)-catalyzed Heck arylation step to produce
product 3 (Scheme 2).42
equiv) and/or DIEA (4 equiv) was present. Furthermore,
use of either 5 mol % of Pd(OAc)2 or 5 mol % of PdCl2 in
the reaction mixture resulted in epoxide conversion to
mainly 4 and partially to phenol. No traces of 1,3-
cyclohexanedione were found in any of the above-
mentioned cases, but interestingly, by exclusion of
base and by replacing Pd(OAc)2 with the Pd(0) catalyst
Pd(PPh3)4, 1,3-cyclohexanedione was cleanly formed.13 In
short, we hold Pd(II) to be the most active reagent
responsible for the 1 to 4 rearrangement under classical
conditions.41
Microwave Conditions. After exclusion of 2 and
Pd(OAc)2 from otherwise unmodified 50% aqueous PEG
reaction mixtures (Table 1), attempted test reactions with
microwave heating at 150 °C for 20 min resulted in clean
conversion of 1 into 4. Replacement of NaOAc with the
stronger base DIEA resulted neither in the consumption
of 1 nor in the formation of 4. Thus, there were reasons
to believe that the acetate played a different role in the
isomerization than simply by acting as a Bro¨nstedt base.
By replacing Pd(OAc)2 with the Pd(0) complex Pd(PPh3)4,
1,3-cyclohexanedione could be cleanly formed when no
acetate base was added. The information obtained above
strongly indicated that isomerization in the path leading
to 4 was much faster in the studied Heck-type environ-
ment than in the competing Pd(0)-catalyzed rearrange-
ment to the 1,3-diketone product. Moreover, acetate ions
appeared crucial for generation of the 1,2-diketone.38
To understand the mechanism of isomerization of 1 to
4, attempts were made to detect key intermediates
formed in the PEG-NaOAc reaction medium at room
temperature or upon gentle heating (up to 80 °C).
Formation of 4 readily took place in all cases, although
none of the expected intermediates could be detected. To
create a more sluggish model system and to enhance the
possibility to gain further information, we decided to
employ the sterically bulky pivaloate functionality as an
acetate substitute. For unambiguous identification, the
suggested intermediates 5b, 6a, and 6b were first
synthesized and purified.
Under gentle warming of 1 with sodium pivaloate in
aqueous PEG, trans-5b could quickly be detected in
solution by GC-MS (Scheme 2). After a considerable
amount of trans-5b had built up, the epimer cis-5b and
the corresponding elimination product 6b were formed.
(41) Base-mediated isomerization of R,â-epoxyketones has been
described but is suggested to be of minor importance in this case, see:
House, H. O.; Ro, R. S. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1958, 80, 2428-2433.
(42) Treatment of 3a under microwave Heck conditions with sodium
pivaloate in place of NaOAc did not yield 7b, ruling out the possibility
that 7b may be formed through transesterification.
A series of arylation experiments were later performed
under microwave conditions at 150 °C with bromoben-
4724 J. Org. Chem., Vol. 70, No. 12, 2005

Isomerization-Arylation of 2,3-Epoxycyclohexanone
was purified by column chromatography (ether/isohexane) to
give the pure product 3.
Conclusion
In summary, arylation of 2,3-epoxycyclohexanone (1)
under Heck reaction conditions produces C3-arylated 1,2-
cyclohexanediones 3 in moderate to high yields. The
epoxy ketone first undergoes Pd(OAc)2- or NaOAc-
induced rearrangement to provide the intermediate 1,2-
cyclohexanedione (4), which subsequently reacts as the
olefinic counterpart in a palladium(0)-catalyzed Heck
arylation reaction, exchanging the enolic C3-hydrogen for
an aryl group. With regard to the use of controlled
microwave heating and aqueous PEG 200 as the reaction
medium, this combination reduces reaction time from
hours to minutes, expands the substrate scope of the
reaction, and allows the use of only 0.05 mol % of
Pd(OAc)2 in the absence of normally essential phosphine
ligands.
The complicated pathway for the transformation of 1
into products 3 should not be perceived as an obstacle
from a preparative point of view. Instead, we would like
to emphasize the great convenience of this one-pot,
multistep protocol, enabling a unique and environmen-
tally benign opportunity for transformation of the easily
accessible 2,3-epoxycyclohexanone into various 3-aryl-1,2-
cyclohexanedione derivatives.
General Procedure for Rearrangement-Arylation of
1 with Microwave Conditions (Table 1). The following
chemicals were added to a 5-mL process vial: NaOAc (4 mmol,
0.33 g), Pd(OAc)2 (0.0005 mmol, 20 µL of 25 mM stock solution
in acetonitrile), aryl halide 2 (according to Table 1), PEG 200
(1.5 mL), water (1.5 mL), and epoxyketone 1 (1 mmol, 112 mg).
The mixture was flushed with N2 and sealed with a septum.
The contents were thereafter magnetically stirred and micro-
wave heated at a specified temperature for an appropriate time
(see Table 1). The reaction mixture was applied to a dry packed
silica gel column and nonpolar matter was rinsed out by
passing isohexane or 3% ether in isohexane (3b, 3c, 3m)
through the column, using reduced pressure. Compound 3 was
eluted from the column by passing 20-50% ether in isohexane
through the column at reduced pressure.
3-(4-Fluorophenyl)-2-hydroxy-2-cyclohexenone (3h).
White crystalline solid, 60% yield (124 mg, 0.60 mmol, >95%
by GC-MS), mp 91 °C. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) δ 7.66 (dd,
J ) 8.9 Hz, JFH ) 5.5 Hz, 2H), 6.99 (m, 2H), 6.77 (s, 1H), 2.67
(t, J ) 6.1 Hz, 2H), 2.53 (t, J ) 6.6 Hz, 2H), 2.02 (dt, J ) 6.6,
6.1 Hz, 2H). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3) δ 195.7, 162.6 (d, JFC
) 249.0 Hz), 143.7 (d, JFC ) 1.5 Hz), 133.4 (d, JFC ) 3.5 Hz),
130.5 (d, JFC ) 8.1 Hz), 127.0, 115.4, 36.0, 29.0, 22.8. IR (KBr)
3378, 1664 cm-1. MS m/z (rel intensity 70 eV) 206 (M+, 100),
178 (21), 109 (10). Anal. Calcd for C12H11FO2: C, 69.89; H, 5.38.
Found: C, 69.79; H, 5.32.
Experimental Section
Acknowledgment. We acknowledge the financial
support from the Swedish Research Council and the
Knut and Alice Wallenberg’s Foundation. We also thank
Biotage AB for providing us with the Smith Microwave
synthesizer. Finally, we would like to thank Mr. Shane
Peterson for intellectual contributions to this project.
General Procedure for Rearrangement-Arylation of
1 with Classical Conditions (Table 1). The following
chemicals were added to a thin-necked Pyrex tube: Pd(OAc)2
(0.05 mmol, 11.2 mg), PPh3 (0.12 mmol, 31.5 mg), aryl bromide
2 (4 mmol), DIEA (4 mmol, 0.68 mL), DMF (4.25 mL), water
(0.75 mL), and epoxyketone 1 (112 mg, 1 mmol). The mixture
was flushed with N2 and sealed with a screw-cap. The contents
were thereafter magnetically stirred and heated on an oil bath
at 100 °C for 17 h or until full conversion was achieved. The
reaction was extracted with ether and dried (MgSO4), and the
solvent was evaporated at reduced pressure. The crude product
Supporting Information Available: Experimental pro-
cedures and spectral data for all new compounds. This material
is available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.
JO0504619
J. Org. Chem, Vol. 70, No. 12, 2005 4725