General allylic C-H alkylation with tertiary nucleophiles

Jennifer M. Howell, Wei Liu, Andrew J. Young, M. Christina White

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A general method for intermolecular allylic C-H alkylation of terminal olefins with tertiary nucleophiles has been accomplished employing palladium(II)/bis(sulfoxide) catalysis. Allylic C-H alkylation furnishes products in good yields (avg. 64%) with excellent regio- and stereoselectivity (>20:1 linear:branched, >20:1 E:Z). For the first time, the olefin scope encompasses unactivated aliphatic olefins as well as activated aromatic/heteroaromatic olefins and 1,4-dienes. The ease of appending allyl moieties onto complex scaffolds is leveraged to enable this mild and selective allylic C-H alkylation to rapidly diversify phenolic natural products. The tertiary nucleophile scope is broad and includes latent functionality for further elaboration (e.g., aliphatic alcohols, α,β-unsaturated esters). The opportunities to effect synthetic streamlining with such general C-H reactivity are illustrated in an allylic C-H alkylation/Diels-Alder reaction cascade: a reactive diene is generated via intermolecular allylic C-H alkylation and approximated to a dienophile contained within the tertiary nucleophile to furnish a common tricyclic core found in the class I galbulimima alkaloids.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)5750-5754
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society
Volume136
Issue number15
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 16 2014

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Catalysis
  • General Chemistry
  • Biochemistry
  • Colloid and Surface Chemistry

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