Activating Group Recycling: A Fresh Approach to Arene Functionalization

Abstract

Arene and alkene functionalizations are commonly employed in the synthesis of many important molecules. These transformations typically require an activating group, such as a halide or pseudohalide, to ensure reliable regioselectivity and reactivity. However, these groups are ultimately expelled from the final product after a single bond-forming event. A more attractive strategy could accomplish the desired reaction and retain the activating group in the final product. This ‘recycling’ tactic would permit additional bond-forming events to occur in the same reaction vessel, resulting in an increase in the complexity of the product and the atom economy of the reaction. This paper highlights recent examples of arene functionalization where an aryl activating group can be retained in the product. Particular emphasis is placed on methods that use the recycled activating group for further transformations, including examples from our lab that produce diverse molecular structures from simple styrenes.

Key words

arenes - catalysis - halides - multicomponent reaction - domino reaction

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