Vinylboronic Esters Research Articles

Atomically precise copper clusters with dual sites for highly chemoselective and efficient hydroboration.

The hydroboration of alkynes into vinylboronate esters is a vital transformation, but achieving high chemoselectivity of targeted functional groups and an appreciable turnover number is a considerable challenge. Herein, we develop two dynamically regulating dual-catalytic-site copper clusters (Cu4NC and Cu8NC) bearing N-heterocyclic thione ligands that endow Cu4NC and Cu8NC catalysts with performance. In particular, the performance of microcrystalline Cu4NC in hydroboration is characterized by a high turnover number (77786), a high chemoselectivity, high recovery and reusability under mild conditions. Mechanistic studies and density functional theory calculations reveal that, compared with the Cu8NC catalyst, the Cu4NC catalyst has a lower activation energy for hydroboration, accounting for its high catalytic activity. This work reveals that precisely constructed cluster catalysts with dual catalytic sites may provide a way to substantially improve catalytic properties by fully leveraging synergistic interactions and dynamic ligand effects, thus promoting the development of cluster catalysts.

Organic Photoredox-Catalyzed Hydrosilylation of Vinylboronic Esters for the Synthesis of Geminal and Vicinal Borosilanes.

Geminal and vicinal borosilanes have unique applications in functional materials and synthetic transformations. Herein, a convenient method for the synthesis of geminal and vicinal borosilanes is developed via photoredox metal-free hydrosilylation of vinylboronic esters. This strategy features the advantages of high atom economy, environmental friendliness, and excellent functional group compatibility. The mechanism studies reveal that the catalytic reaction goes through photoredox HAT catalysis and a radical addition pathway.

Tandem Diboration–Protoboration of Terminal Alkynes: A Practical Route to α-Substituted Alkenyl Boronates

AbstractA practical method is introduced for the catalytic conversion of terminal alkynes into α-substituted vinyl boronic esters. The process employs catalytic amounts of nanoparticle-supported gold catalysts and catalytic amounts of copper to effect the overall transformation.

Synthesis of Boronic Esters from Organometallic Reagents and Bis(pinacolato)diboron.

Synthesis of alkyl, aryl, and vinyl boronic esters carrying various chiral and achiral diol-protecting groups were synthesized starting from the corresponding alkyl, aryl, and vinyl lithium or Grignard reagents. Good to excellent yields were obtained for a large range of substrates. The reaction can be conducted in a gram scale to obtain the product over 80 % yield. This approach provides direct access to neopentyl, pinene, and other boronic esters that are difficult to achieve. Using trimethoxyborane or 2-isopropoxy pinacolboronic ester. Detailed mechanistic studies have been conducted to understand the mechanism behind the formation of boronic ester starting from organometallic reagents.

Borylated Cyclopentanes via Atom Transfer Radical [3+2] Annulation

AbstractAn atom transfer radical [3+2] annulation (ATRAn) reaction involving alkenyl boronic esters and homoallylic iodides provides a rapid access to polysubstituted borylated cyclopentanes. A variety of α‐substituted vinylboronic esters are suitable substrates and offer unique opportunities for further modification of the formed 5‐membered ring. For instance, the oxidation of the boronic ester to an alcohol allows the preparation of products that corresponds to an annulation involving the enol form of acetone. Substitution of the iodide by a nucleophile such as lithium methoxide without modifying the boronic ester moiety is also feasible. Finally, by using a (3‐acetoxyprop‐1‐en‐2‐yl)boronic ester, a facile 1,2‐elimination reaction provided a methylenecyclopentane. In this case, the alkenylboronate radical trap acts as an equivalent to allene, a building block so far elusive for preparative radical reactions.

Photo-Triggered, Copper(II) Chloride-Catalyzed Radical Hydroalkylation and Hydrosilylation of Vinylboronic Esters To Access Alkylboronic Esters.

Alkyl boronic acids and their derivatives constitute vital building blocks in organic synthesis and are important motifs identified in medicinal chemistry. Herein, we present a phototriggered, CuCl2-catalyzed radical hydroalkylation and hydrosilylation of vinylboronic esters to alkylboronic esters. This approach exhibits mild reaction conditions, utilization of easily accessible reagents, and scalability up to a gram scale. Further synthetic transformations of the hydrosilylation products and mechanistic studies are also demonstrated.

1,2-Metallate Rearrangement as a Toolbox for the Synthesis of Allylic Alcohols.

The development of new methods and protocols for the synthesis of biologically active substances remains one of the most important pillars in organic chemistry, and one of these privileged structural motifs are allylic alcohols. The method of choice to date for the synthesis of these is the Nozaki-Hiyama-Takai-Kishi reaction. We describe here a valuable alternative to the synthesis of allylic alcohols via 1,2-metallate rearrangement. In this work, various vinyl boronic esters with different functional groups have been applied in the Hoppe-Matteson-Aggarwal reaction. In addition, two monoterpenoids were constructed via this convergent synthetic strategy.

Regioselective Hydroalkylation of Vinyl- and Allylsilanes as Well as Vinylgermanes under Ni-H Catalysis.

A Ni-H-catalyzed hydroalkylation of vinylsilanes and -germanes as well as allylsilanes with unactivated alkyl iodides is reported. Unlike related reactions of styrene or vinyl boronate esters, the addition across the C-C double bond proceeds with anti-Markovnikov selectivity to deliver the linear regioisomer. Mechanistic control experiments support a radical mechanism, and a competition experiment reveals that the chemoselectivity is in favor of the vinyl over the allyl group.

Understanding the Mechanism and Selectivity of 1,1-Diborylalkanes from Alkenes Catalyzed by a Zirconium Complex.

The synthesis of 1,1-diborylalkanes from readily available alkenes is an appealing method. The density functional theory (DFT) method was employed to investigate the reaction mechanism of 1,1-diborylalkanes, which was synthesized from alkenes and a borane, and the reaction was catalyzed by a zirconium complex Cp2ZrCl2. The entire reaction is divided into two cycles: dehydrogenative boration to form vinyl boronate esters (VBEs) and hydroboration of VBEs. This article focuses on the hydroboration cycle and elaborates on the role of the reducing reagents in the equilibrium of self-contradictory reactivity (dehydrogenative boration and hydroboration). The H2 and HBpin pathways were investigated as the reducing reagents in the hydroboration process. The calculated results showed that it is more advantageous to use H2 as a reducing agent (path A). Furthermore, the σ-bond metathesis is the rate-determining step (RDS) with an energetic span of 21.4 kcal/mol. This is consistent with the self-contradictory reactivity balance proposed in the experiment. The reaction modes of the hydroboration process were also discussed. These analyses revealed the origin of selectivity in this boration reaction, in which the σ-bond metathesis of HBpin needs to overcome the strong interaction between HBpin and the Zr metal. Meanwhile, the origin of the selectivity of different positions of H2 is the interaction between the σ(H1-H2) → σ*(Zr1-C1) overlap and these findings have implications for catalyst design and application.

CeO2‐Nanorods‐Catalyzed Protoboration of Alkenes and Alkynes with Bis(pinacolato)diboron

AbstractThe protoboration of alkenes and alkynes with B2pin2 (pin=OCMe2CMe2O) using a heterogeneous CeO2 nanorods catalyst has been developed to afford the corresponding alkyl and vinyl boronate esters in 41–99% yield under mild reaction conditions. A series of aromatic and aliphatic alkenes and alkynes with synthetically important functional groups were well tolerated. In both the systems, the catalyst could be reused for up to six runs without significant loss in activity. Stoichiometric reactions revealed that the protoboration may proceed through the in situ formed catalytically active boryl species.magnified image

Dual-catalyst-enabled olefin 1,2-difunctionalization for α-chloroalkylboronic esters

Radical vicinal difunctionalization of olefin represents one of the most efficient ways to combine different fragments. In this issue of <i>Chem</i>, Li, Bunescu, and Gaunt report the modular synthesis of α-chloroalkylboronic esters via additions of aryl group and chlorine atom across the vinyl boronic ester enabled by two different cooperative catalysts.

Density Functional Theory Study on the H2-Acceptorless Dehydrogenative Boration of Alkenes Catalyzed by a Zirconium Complex.

For the synthesis of vinyl boronate esters, the direct catalytic H2-acceptorless dehydrogenative boration of alkenes is one of the promising strategies. In this paper, the density functional theory method was employed to investigate the reaction mechanism of dehydrogenative boration and transfer boration of alkenes catalyzed by a zirconium complex (Cp2ZrH2). There are two possible pathways for this reaction: the alkene insertion followed by the dehydrogenative boration (path A) and the alkene insertion after the dehydrogenative boration (path B). The calculated results showed that path A is more favorable than path B, and that the rate-determining step is the C-B coupling step with an energy barrier of 18.7 kcal/mol. The reaction modes of the C-B coupling assisted dehydrogenative boration and the alkene insertion were also discussed. These analyses reveal a novel hydrogen release behavior in dehydrogenative boration and the alkene insertion modes and sequences were proposed to be of importance in the chemoselectivity of this reaction. In addition, the X ligand effect (X = H, Cl) on the catalytic activity of the zirconium complex was explored, indicating that the H ligand could enhance the catalytic activity of the complex for styrene dehydrogenative boration.

Photoredox-Mediated Deoxygenative Radical Additions of Aromatic Acids to Vinyl Boronic Esters and gem-Diborylalkenes.

A new method to access β-keto-gem-diborylalkanes, by direct deoxygenative radical addition of aromatic carboxylic acids to gem-dibortlalkenes, is described. The reaction proceeds under mild photoredox catalysis and involves the photochemical C-O bond activation of aromatic carboxylic acids in the presence of PPh3 . It generates an acyl radical, which further undergoes an additional reaction with gem-diborylalkenes to form an α-gem-diboryl alkyl radical intermediate, which then reduces to the corresponding anion, which after protonation, affords the β-keto-gem-diborylalkane product. Moreover, the same scenario has been extended to the vinyl boronic esters, for example, gem-(Ar, Bpin)-alkenes, and gem-(Alkyl, Bpin)-alkenes. Importantly, this protocol provides a general platform for the late-stage functionalization of bio-active and drug molecules containing a carboxylic acid group.

Group 4 Metallocene Complexes Supported by a Redox-Active O,C-Chelating Ligand

Group 4 metallocene complexes Cp2M[OC] (Cp = η5-C5H5; M = Ti (1) or Zr (2); [OC] = κ2-O,C-OC6H2-2-CPh2-4,6-tBu2) supported with a redox-active bidentate O,C-ligand were successfully synthesized through salt metathesis. X-ray crystallographic results showed that both complexes maintained similar bent metallocene coordination geometry. A close inspection of the structural parameters revealed a remarkably long Ti–C bond in 1, indicating concomitant intramolecular charge transfer upon metathesis and coordination. The electronic structure of 1 was investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements, revealing the presence of a Ti(III) center and one [OC]•– radical anion. In contrast, the diamagnetic complex 2 was found to comprise a Zr(IV) center and an alkyl/aryloxo dianion. Divergent catalytic reactivity was observed for the two group 4 derivatives in the reaction between alkenes and HBpin. Specifically, dehydrogenative boration products (i.e., vinyl boronate esters) were obtained exclusively in the presence of the Zr complex (18 examples, up to 90% yield), while the Ti compound selectively promoted the formation of alkyl boronate esters via hydroboration (19 examples, up to 99% yield).

Hydroboration of alkynes initiated by sodium triethylborohydride

Sodium triethylborohydride, a popular hydride transferring reagent, is commonly used as an activating agent for hydroboration catalysts based on the first-row transition metal complexes. It has been found that NaHBEt3 can be a selective catalyst for hydroboration of terminal alkynes with pinacolborane. Hydroboration of aromatic and aliphatic alkynes in the presence of 10 mol% of NaHBEt3 proceeded in a highly selective manner to give (E)-vinylboronate esters with high yields, whereas ethynylsilanes seem to be less reactive in this process. Internal alkynes can also be transformed into corresponding vinylboronate esters, however, this process require prolonged reaction times compared to their terminal counterparts.

Stereodivergent Synthesis of 1,3-Dienes via Protodeboronation of Homoallenylboronic Esters

Vinylboronic esters and allylboronic esters are well known to afford olefins by protodeboronation, and therefore homoallenylboronic esters should be similarly available as precursors for 1,3-dienes, but this strategy has not been well explored due to the limited availability of homoallenylboronic esters. Here, we describe a versatile synthesis of homoallenylboronic esters via lithiation-borylation and subsequent 1,2-rearrangement. The resulting homoallenylboronic esters were successfully converted into Z- and E-1,3-dienes by protodeboronation using Bu4NF and B(C6F5)3/PhOH, respectively.

Chromium-Catalyzed Selective Borylation of Vinyl Triflates and Unactivated Aryl Carboxylic Esters with Pinacolborane.

The use of pinacolborane to borylate abundant vinyl triflates and unactivated aryl carboxylic esters was enabled by chromium catalysis via the selective formation of vinyl and aryl boronate esters. The competing hydrided reduction or allylic borylation proceeds sluggishly or does not occur, therefore providing a selective strategy for the incorporation of boronate into olefins and arenes. Mechanistic studies indicate that the σ-bond metathesis or oxidative addition mechanism may be considered to be responsible for the cleavage of ester scaffolds.

Organoboron Compounds Towards Asymmetric Pericyclic Reaction; Exploitation to Bioactive Molecule Synthesis

AbstractOrganic frameworks containing boron as one of the units have wide application in organic synthesis. Due to the non‐toxicity and cheap accessibility, the organoboron compounds have gained increased demand towards the organic chemist. Besides, there has been a huge progress in the area of chiral organoboron synthesis, which allows direct access to chiral synthons. Among other methods developed for the asymmetric synthesis of organoboron compounds, pericyclic reaction plays an important role. Cycloaddition reactions using vinyl boronic esters have been extensively reported for the synthesis of cyclic boronic esters. Asymmetric cycloaddition using organoboron compound opens a quick access to various intermediates with multiple chiral centers, which has been utilized for the total synthesis of bioactive molecules. This mini‐review outlines various asymmetric pericyclic reactions developed to date demonstrating its applicability towards bioactive molecule synthesis.

Annulative coupling of vinylboronic esters: aryne-triggered 1,2-metallate rearrangement.

A stereoselective annulative coupling of a vinylboronic ester ate-complex with arynes producing cyclic borinic esters has been developed. An annulation reaction that proceeded through the formation of two C–C bonds and a C–B bond was realized by exploiting a 1,2-metallate rearrangement of boronate triggered by the addition of a vinyl group to the strained triple bond of an aryne. The generated aryl anion would then cyclize to a boron atom to complete the annulation cascade. The annulated borinic ester could be converted to boronic acids and their derivatives by oxidation, halogenation, and cross-coupling. Particularly, halogenation and Suzuki–Miyaura coupling proceeded in a site-selective fashion and produced highly substituted alkylboronic acid derivatives.

An Alternative Route to Complex Allenes or Cyclooctatrienes via a Suzuki Cyclocarbopalladation Cascade.

The 4-exo-dig cyclocarbopalladation of vinyl bromides substituted with a triple or double bond resulted in impressive cascade reactions leading to different compounds under Suzuki cross-coupling conditions upon a slight modification of the starting material. When the starting compound carries a triple bond, a single cascade occurs providing a structure containing an allene, a tetrasubstituted cyclopropane, and a cyclobutene with complete stereoselectivity. When the related starting material possessing a double bond is reacted under the same conditions in the presence of various vinyl boronic esters or acids, an efficient 8π-electrocyclization provides tricyclic systems comprised of a cyclobutene unit, as well as a cyclooctatriene. Five carbons of the latter can be selectively decorated with different substituents depending on the choice of the starting material and the boronic coupling partner.