Synlett 2023; 34(03): 243-248
DOI: 10.1055/a-1971-6187
letter

Catalytic Benzannulation Reactions of Enynones for Accessing Heterocycle-Incorporating Diarylmethanes

Jia-Yin Wang
a   School of Pharmacy, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, P. R. of China
b   Institute of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P. R. of China
,
Guigen Li
b   Institute of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P. R. of China
c   Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, USA
,
Wen-Juan Hao
d   School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Green Synthetic Chemistry for Functional Materials, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, P. R. of China
,
Bo Jiang
d   School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Green Synthetic Chemistry for Functional Materials, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, P. R. of China
› Author Affiliations
National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21971090, 22071102, and 91956110) and the Robert A. Welch Foundation (D-1361-20210327).


Abstract

Two catalytic benzannulation/1,4-addition cascades of available enynones with indoles or tetronic acid-derived enamino lactones as C-nucleophiles are reported, producing 53 examples of heterocycle-incorporating diarylmethanes with moderate to excellent yields. The combination of AgOTf and Sc(OTf)3 permits bimetallic synergistic catalysis of the reaction of enynones with indoles to access 35 triarylmethanes in generally good yields with ortho-naphthoquinone methides, generated in situ, as the key intermediates. Exchanging indoles for tetronic acid-derived enamino lactones resulted in 18 diarylmethanes by the Ag-catalyzed benzannulation/1,4-addition cascade. Both reactions are advantageous for their high atom utilization and mild reaction conditions, providing intriguing complementary approaches for the direct syntheses of new heterocycle-containing diarylmethanes.

Supporting Information



Publication History

Received: 20 September 2022

Accepted after revision: 02 November 2022

Accepted Manuscript online:
02 November 2022

Article published online:
28 November 2022

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