Organic Letters
Letter
a b
,
ketones, we have developed the palladium-catalyzed direct β-
C(sp3)−H silylation of aliphatic ketones. The resulting β-silyl
ketones would serve as useful building blocks for organic
synthesis.
Table 2. Scope of Methyl and Alkyl Ketones
Pinacolone was chosen as the model substrate in our study,
and an oxime auxiliary was installed (Table 1). To our delight,
a b
,
Table 1. Optimization Studies
a
Conditions: substrate (0.1 mmol, 1.0 equiv), Pd(OAc)2 (10 mol %),
Cu(OAc)2·H2O (10 mol %), (SiMe3)2 (2.5 equiv), AgTFA (3.0
equiv), Li2CO3 (2.0 equiv), toluene (2.0 mL), under air, at 110 °C for
b
c
6 h. Isolated yields. The C(sp2)−H silylation product (2h′) was
observed in 14% yield.
a
the aminooxyamide moiety were compatible under the
silylation conditions, and no C(sp2)−H silylation was observed
(2b−2e). Ketone derived from Gemfibrozil was silylated at the
β-methyl group with 72% yield (2e). A variety of functional
groups, including ester, chlorine, and alkene substituents, were
well tolerated (2f−2h, 2j, 2l). No α-silylation happened with
the acidic α-hydrogen; only β-C(sp3)−H silylation products
were isolated (2j). For alkenyl ketone, β-C(sp3)−H silylation
product was obtained in 57% yield (2h) with an inseparable
minor C(sp2)−H silylation product in 14% yield (2h′).
Notably, cyclobutyl substituted ketone was β-silylated at the
methylene C−H bond in 62% yield (2i).
The scopes of aryl (2m−2s), heteroaryl (2t), and styrenyl
(2u−2y) ketones were also investigated (Table 3). Aryl
ketones with electron-donating groups, including methoxyl,
methyl, and tert-butyl groups, or halogen groups, including
fluorine and chlorine, were compatible under the silylation
conditions (2m−2s). Heteroaryl ketone containing thiophene
was tolerated (2t). Styrenyl ketones with electron-withdrawing
groups, such as cyano and nitro groups, or fluorine, were
tolerated (2u−2y). Notably, no C(sp2)−H silylation was
observed in these ketones containing phenyl or alkenyl
C(sp2)−H bonds.
Conditions: 1a (0.1 mmol, 1.0 equiv), Pd(OAc)2 (10 mol %),
Cu(OAc)2·H2O (20 mol %), (SiMe3)2 (2.5 equiv), AgTFA (3.0
equiv), Li2CO3 (2.0 equiv), toluene (2.0 mL), 110 °C, under air, 6 h.
b
1
Yield determined by H NMR analysis of the crude product using
1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene as the internal standard. The yield in
parentheses is the isolated yield.
after extensive screening of various reaction parameters, the
desired silylated product 2a was obtained in 73% yield (72%
isolated yield) using Pd(OAc)2 (10 mol %), Cu(OAc)2·H2O
(20 mol %), hexamethyldisilane (2.5 equiv), AgTFA (3.0
equiv), and Li2CO3 (2.0 equiv) in toluene (2 mL) at 110 °C
for 6 h with the aminooxyamide auxiliary DG1 (entry 1). Other
types of carboxylic acid auxiliaries such as DG2 and DG3,
which were employed in the C(sp3)−H iodination and
arylation of ketones,15 or amide auxiliary DG4, all gave poor
yields (entries 2−4). Using other inorganic bases than Li2CO3,
the yield of silylated products decreased (entries 5−7). The
reaction became less efficient without Cu(OAc)2·H2O and
with other copper salts (entries 8−10). The yield decreased at
other temperatures (entries 11−13).
With the optimal auxiliary and reaction conditions
discovered, we explored the scope of ketones using
hexamethyldisilane as the silylation partner. We continued
the studies with various methyl (2a−2i) and alkyl (2j−2l)
ketones (Table 2). Alkyl substituted ketones were β-silylated in
good to excellent yields (2a, 2i, 2k). Aromatic moieties trans to
Removal of the aminooxyamide auxiliary was achieved by
reacting the silylation products with 4 M HCl in 1,4-dioxane
and water at 80 °C, delivering β-silylated ketone (3d) in 73%
yield (Scheme 2a). To further demonstrate the synthetic value
5360
Org. Lett. 2021, 23, 5359−5362