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

A new method to access ß-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 ß-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.

Palladium-Catalyzed Decarboxylative Asymmetric Allylic Alkylation of Dihydroquinolinones.

A palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative asymmetric allylic alkylation (Pd-DAAA) of benzo-fused and non-benzo-fused δ-valerolactams is disclosed. This methodology gives access to chiral lactams bearing C3-quaternary stereocenters, which are central to many natural products and biologically active compounds. The reaction proceeds via palladium-catalyzed ionization of an allyl ester, followed by carbon dioxide extrusion and recombination of the electrophilic Pd-π-allyl complex with the in situ generated lactam enolate. This final step converts racemic allylic ester starting materials into enantiomerically enriched substituted lactams with high yield and enantiomeric excess.

In(OTf)3-catalysed one-pot versatile pyrrole synthesis through domino annulation of α-oxoketene-N,S-acetals with nitroolefins.

In(OTf)3-catalyzed robust and sustainable one-pot access to previously unknown and synthetically demanding polysubstituted pyrroles via [3 + 2] annulation of α-oxoketene-N,S-acetals with ß-nitrostyrenes has been achieved under solvent-free conditions. The merit of this domino Michael addition/cyclization sequence is highlighted by its operational simplicity, short reaction time (5-10 min), good to excellent yields, tolerance of a large variety of functional groups, and efficiency of producing two new (C-C and C-N) bonds and one highly functionalized pyrrole ring in a single operation, which make it an ideal alternative to existing methods.

4-Dimethylamino pyridine-promoted one-pot three-component regioselective synthesis of highly functionalized 4H-thiopyrans via heteroannulation of ß-oxodithioesters.

A highly convergent and regioselective heteroannulation protocol for the synthesis of hitherto unreported highly substituted 2-amino-4-(aryl/alkyl)-5-(aroyl/heteroaroyl)-3-(cyano/carboalkoxy)-6-methylthio-4H-thiopyran derivatives has been developed. This one-pot three-component domino coupling of ß-oxodithioesters, aldehydes, and malononitrile/ethyl or methyl cyanoacetate is promoted by 4-dimethylamino pyridine (DMAP) in solvent (dichloromethane (DCM)) as well as under solvent-free conditions. Systematic optimization of reaction parameters identified that the three-component coupling (3CC) protocol is tolerant to a wide array of functionality providing densely functionalized 4H-thiopyrans in excellent yields. The merit of this cascade Knoevenagel condensation/Michael addition/cyclization sequence is highlighted by its high atom-economy, excellent yields, and efficiency of producing three new bonds (two C-C and one C-S) and one stereocenter in a single operation.