Angewandte
Communications
Chemie
3
based ligands that might promote C(sp )ÀH borylation
group (L9) drastically decreased the yield to 30%, revealing
that the steric properties of ligands have a strong effect on the
reaction. Gratifyingly, further increasing the electron density
on the quinoline ligand improved the yield to 67% (L10).
Various bulkier alkoxy groups at the 2- and 4-position of
quinoline consistently led to a decrease in yield (L11–L14). To
further improve the turnover of this reaction, we screened
a number of ammonium salts that are known to prevent the
[
9a]
reactions. Based on our previous method,
we screened
further palladium catalysts, bases, oxidants, and solvents using
alanine-derived amide substrate 1, which resulted in minor
improvements (Table 1). The use of HOAc (20 mol%) helped
3
Table 1: Screening of ligands for the C(sp )ÀH borylation of alanine-
[
a]
derived amide 1.
0
[14]
aggregation of Pd species. The use of tetraethylammonium
tetrafluoroborate (TEABF ) increased the yield to 73%. To
4
elucidate the role of the ligand and TEABF , we examined
4
the influence of L10 and additives on the rate profile (see the
Supporting Information). The ligand increased the initial rate
of the borylation reaction by a factor of five whereas TEABF4
did not influence the rate. The substrates containing less
electron-deficient amide auxiliaries gave much lower yields
(see the Supporting Information), which is consistent with our
previous observation that the acidity of aryl amides is
3
important for the C(sp )ÀH activation. We have previously
shown that the deprotonation of amides by inorganic bases
3
promotes the activation of C(sp )ÀH bonds, leading to the
[13]
formation of palladacycle intermediates. Control experi-
ments confirmed that O is needed to render this reaction
2
catalytic (see the Supporting Information). The requirement
II
IV
of O for catalytic turnover is not consistent with a Pd /Pd
2
II
0
catalytic cycle. Instead, the proposed Pd /Pd catalytic cycle is
most likely operative. Importantly, this reaction also pro-
ceeded under air to give the desired product in 56% yield.
With the optimized reaction conditions in hand, we then
subjected various carboxylic acid derived amides to the
[
a] Reaction conditions: substrate 1 (0.10 mmol), B pin (2.0 equiv),
2 2
Pd(OAc) (10 mol%), ligand (20 mol%), HOAc (20 mol%), KHCO3
(
by H NMR analysis of the crude product mixture using CH Br as the
internal standard. [b] TEABF (50 mol%) was added. [c] Yield of isolated
2
2.0 equiv), CH CN (1.5 mL), O , 808C, 15 h. The yield was determined
3 2
1
3
C(sp )ÀH borylation reaction conditions (Table 2). The
2
2
4
borylation of substrates containing a-quaternary centers is
efficient in general (4a–4l). Compound 3c, an amide
derivative of the drug gemfibrozil, was borylated to give 4c
in 70% yield. Aryl groups at the b- or g-positions are well
tolerated (4e and 4 f). It is worth mentioning that this
borylation method is highly monoselective in the presence of
two or three methyl groups, as the newly installed boron
moiety is quite bulky and may also coordinate to the amide
product.
[
13]
prevent substrate decomposition, and slightly improved the
yield (see the Supporting Information). As 2-picoline (L1) is
known to accelerate the CÀH arylation of alanine-derived
[
13]
amide 1, we began our ligand screening with L1. Disap-
pointingly, L1 gave a slightly lower yield, which indicates that
this ligand may not be compatible with the transmetalation or
reductive-elimination step. Among several other pyridine
ligands (see the Supporting Information), only 2,4,6-trime-
thoxypyridine improved the yield, namely to 45%. We then
turned our attention to the electron-rich tricyclic quinoline
ligands (L2 and L3) that were previously used to promote
[
9b,15]
3
auxiliary,
thus preventing a second b-C(sp )ÀH activation
of the products (4a–4 f). The monoselectivity observed with
isobutyric and pivalic acid substrates is a distinct advantage
over many b-CÀH functionalization reactions where mixtures
of the mono- and difunctionalization products are
[
16]
obtained.
Amides possessing a-protons are compatible
with the reaction conditions as well (4m–4r). We also
performed the borylation reactions using 5 mol% of the
palladium catalyst, which gave the borylated products (4d–
3
II
0
[13]
C(sp )ÀH olefination by Pd /Pd catalysis. Encouragingly,
the use of L3 improved the yield to 51%. Whereas simple
acridine (L4) gave a similar result to L3, installation of
a methoxy group at the 9-position of acridine increased the
yield to 55% (L5). Replacement of L5 with electron-deficient
3
4 f) in high yields. Importantly, the C(sp )ÀH borylation was
carried out on a gram scale without any additives to provide
II
4a in 67% yield (Scheme 2), which clearly indicates that Pd /
9
-chloroacridine (L6) drastically decreased the yield to 18%,
L is the real catalyst and that the additives only provide minor
suggesting that electron-rich substituents on the ligand are
beneficial. Guided by this observation, we systematically
introduced alkyl and alkoxy groups onto the quinoline ring
improvement.
Whereas the methylene CÀH borylation of an acyclic
amide derived from 2-ethylbutanoic acid (3t) gave the
borylated product in 25% yield (see the Supporting Informa-
tion), a variety of cyclic amides were borylated in syntheti-
cally useful yields (Table 3). For example, a phthalimido
group is tolerated under the reaction conditions (6c and 6g).
(
see the Supporting Information). In spite of the poor
reactivity resulting from the use of ligand L7, 2-methoxyqui-
noline (L8) provided the desired product in 58% yield.
Replacing the methoxy group by a more hindered isobutoxy
7
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Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 785 –789