Free-Radical Deoxygenative Amination of Alcohols via Copper Metallaphotoredox Catalysis.

Alcohols are among the most abundant chemical feedstocks, yet they remain vastly underutilized as coupling partners in transition metal catalysis. Herein, we describe a copper metallaphotoredox manifold for the open shell deoxygenative coupling of alcohols with N-nucleophiles to forge C(sp3)-N bonds, a linkage of high value in pharmaceutical agents that is challenging to access via conventional cross-coupling techniques. N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-mediated conversion of alcohols into the corresponding alkyl radicals followed by copper-catalyzed C-N coupling renders this platform successful for a broad range of structurally unbiased alcohols and 18 classes of N-nucleophiles.

The History of Flow Chemistry at Eli Lilly and Company.

Flow chemistry was initially used for speed to early phase material delivery in the development laboratories, scaling up chemical transformations that we would not or could not scale up batch for safety reasons. Some early examples included a Newman Kwart Rearrangement, Claisen rearrangement, hydroformylation, and thermal imidazole cyclization. Next, flow chemistry was used to enable safe scale up of hazardous chemistries to manufacturing plants. Examples included high pressure hydrogenation, aerobic oxidation, and Grignard formation reactions. More recently, flow chemistry was used in Small Volume Continuous (SVC) processes, where highly potent oncolytic molecules were produced by fully continuous processes at about 10 kg/day including reaction, extraction, distillation, and crystallization, using disposable equipment contained in fume hoods.

Mechanistic insights into copper-catalyzed aerobic oxidative coupling of N-N bonds.

Catalytic N-N coupling is a valuable transformation for chemical synthesis and energy conversion. Here, mechanistic studies are presented for two related copper-catalyzed oxidative aerobic N-N coupling reactions, one involving the synthesis of a pharmaceutically relevant triazole and the other relevant to the oxidative conversion of ammonia to hydrazine. Analysis of catalytic and stoichiometric N-N coupling reactions support an "oxidase"-type catalytic mechanism with two redox half-reactions: (1) aerobic oxidation of a CuI catalyst and (2) CuII-promoted N-N coupling. Both reactions feature turnover-limiting oxidation of CuI by O2, and this step is inhibited by the N-H substrate(s). The results highlight the unexpected facility of the N-N coupling step and establish a foundation for development of improved catalysts for these transformations.

Cu-Catalyzed Aerobic Oxidative N-N Coupling of Carbazoles and Diarylamines Including Selective Cross-Coupling.

A Cu-catalyzed method has been identified for aerobic oxidative dimerization of carbazoles and diarylamines to the corresponding N-N coupled bicarbazoles and tetraarylhydrazines. The reactions proceed under mild conditions (1 atm O2, 60-80 °C) with a catalyst composed of CuBr·dimethylsulfide and N, N-dimethylaminopyridine. Reactions between carbazole and diarylamines show unusually selective cross-coupling, even with a 1:1 ratio of the two substrates. This behavior was found to arise from reversible formation of the tetraarylhydrazine. Formation of this species is kinetically favored, but cleavage of the N-N bond under the reaction conditions leads to selective formation of the thermodynamically favored cross-coupling product.

Scalable Synthesis of Enantiopure Bis-3,4-diazaphospholane Ligands for Asymmetric Catalysis.

An optimized route to enantiopure tetra-carboxylic acid and tetra-carboxamide bis(diazaphospholane) ligands that obviates chromatographic purification is presented. This synthesis, which is demonstrated on 15 and 100 g scales, features a scalable classical resolution of tetra-carboxylic acid enantiomers with recycling of the resolving agent. When paired with a rhodium metal center, these bis(diazaphospholane) ligands are highly active and selective in asymmetric hydroformylation applications.

Experimental Limiting Oxygen Concentrations for Nine Organic Solvents at Temperatures and Pressures Relevant to Aerobic Oxidations in the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Applications of aerobic oxidation methods in pharmaceutical manufacturing are limited in part because mixtures of oxygen gas and organic solvents often create the potential for a flammable atmosphere. To address this issue, limiting oxygen concentration (LOC) values, which define the minimum partial pressure of oxygen that supports a combustible mixture, have been measured for nine commonly used organic solvents at elevated temperatures and pressures. The solvents include acetic acid, N-methylpyrrolidone, dimethyl sulfoxide, tert-amyl alcohol, ethyl acetate, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, methanol, acetonitrile, and toluene. The data obtained from these studies help define safe operating conditions for the use of oxygen with organic solvents.

Palladium-catalyzed carbonylation reactions of aryl bromides at atmospheric pressure: a general system based on Xantphos.

A method for the Pd-catalyzed carbonylation of aryl bromides has been developed using Xantphos as the ligand. This method is effective for the direct synthesis of Weinreb amides, primary and secondary benzamides, and methyl esters from the corresponding aryl bromides at atmospheric pressure. In addition, a putative catalytic intermediate, (Xanphos)Pd(Br)benzoyl, was prepared and an X-ray crystal structure was obtained revealing an unusual cis-coordination mode of Xantphos in this palladium-acyl complex.

Palladium-catalyzed carbonylation of aryl tosylates and mesylates.

A general protocol for the palladium-catalyzed carbonylation of aryl tosylates and mesylates to form esters has been developed using a catalyst system derived from Pd(OAc)2 and the bulky, bidentate dcpp ligand. The system operates under mild conditions: atmospheric CO pressure and temperatures of 80-110 degrees C. A broad substrate scope has been demonstrated allowing carbonylation of electron-rich, electron-poor, and heterocyclic tosylates and mesylates, and the reaction shows wide functional group tolerance.

Convenient method for the preparation of Weinreb amides via Pd-catalyzed aminocarbonylation of aryl bromides at atmospheric pressure.

[reaction: see text] The direct transformation of aryl bromides into the corresponding Weinreb amides via Pd-catalyzed aminocarbonylation at atmospheric pressure is reported.

Catalysts for Suzuki-Miyaura coupling processes: scope and studies of the effect of ligand structure.

Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions of aryl and heteroaryl halides with aryl-, heteroaryl- and vinylboronic acids proceed in very good to excellent yield with the use of 2-(2',6'-dimethoxybiphenyl)dicyclohexylphosphine, SPhos (1). This ligand confers unprecedented activity for these processes, allowing reactions to be performed at low catalyst levels, to prepare extremely hindered biaryls and to be carried out, in general, for reactions of aryl chlorides at room temperature. Additionally, structural studies of various 1.Pd complexes are presented along with computational data that help elucidate the efficacy that 1 imparts on Suzuki-Miyaura coupling processes. Moreover, a comparison of the reactions with 1 and with 2-(2',4',6'-triisopropylbiphenyl)diphenylphosphine (2) is presented that is informative in determining the relative importance of ligand bulk and electron-donating ability in the high activity of catalysts derived from ligands of this type. Further, when the aryl bromide becomes too hindered, an interesting C-H bond functionalization-cross-coupling sequence intervenes to provide product in high yield.

A practical synthesis of the F-ring of halichondrin B via ozonolytic desymmetrization of a C(2)-symmetric dihydroxycyclohexene.

C(2)-symmetric dihydroxycyclohexene 1 was desymmetrized via a one-pot Criegee ozonolysis/acylation protocol to afford acetal-lactone 2. Installation of the allyl side chain on the convex face of the bicyclic system and subsequent reduction provided the desired tetrahydrofuran 4 with the correct relative and absolute stereochemistries. Simple functional group manipulations led to the desired F-ring module 3 of halichondrin B.

Dioxolane-to-bridged acetal-to-spiroketal via ring-closing metathesis and rearrangement: a novel route to 1,7-dioxaspiro[5.5]undecanes.

Several examples of 1,7-dioxaspiro[5.5]undecane spiroketal systems have been synthesized from the common bicyclic intermediate 1 via acid-catalyzed rearrangement. Intermolecular ketalization of C(2) symmetric diene diol 3 with ketone 9 and then desymmetrization by ring-closing metathesis rapidly constructs bicyclic acetal 1. The locked conformation and steric bias of 1 allow stereoselective functionalization of one or both double bonds before spiroketalization.