Selenium-Catalyzed Oxidative C-H Amination of ( E)-3-(Arylamino)-2-styrylquinazolin-4(3 H)-ones: A Metal-Free Synthesis of 1,2-Diarylpyrazolo[5,1- b]quinazolin-9(1 H)-ones.

A novel metal-free catalysis protocol for the synthesis of 1,2-diarylpyrazolo[5,1- b]quinazolin-9(1 H)-ones via intramolecular oxidative C-H amination of ( E)-3-(arylamino)-2-styrylquinazolin-4(3 H)-ones has been developed in moderate to good yield. The method shows good functional group tolerance. The presented approach offers a new synthetic pathway toward the core structures of 2,3-fused quinazolinones. Moreover, the present synthetic route can be readily scaled up to gram quantity without difficulty. A possible mechanism involves a seleniranium ion followed by three-membered ring opening to form the C-N bond.

Pd-Catalyzed tandem reaction of N-(2-cyanoaryl)benzamides with arylboronic acids: synthesis of quinazolines.

The synthesis of 2,4-disubstituted quinazolines by a palladium-catalyzed reaction of arylboronic acids with N-(2-cyanoaryl)benzamides has been developed with moderate to excellent yields. The method shows good functional group tolerance. In particular, halogen and hydroxyl substituents, which are amenable for further synthetic elaborations, are well tolerated. Moreover, the present synthetic route could be readily scaled up to gram quantity without difficulty. The mechanism possibly involves nucleophilic addition to the nitrile function, forming an imine intermediate followed by an intramolecular addition to the amide and dehydration to the quinazoline ring.

Palladium-catalyzed tandem addition/cyclization in aqueous medium: synthesis of 2-arylindoles.

An efficient protocol to construct 2-arylindoles was developed through palladium-catalyzed tandem addition/cyclization of potassium aryltrifluoroborates with aliphatic nitriles in aqueous medium. The use of water as the reaction medium makes the synthesis process environmentally benign. A plausible mechanism for the formation of 2-arylindoles involving sequential nucleophilic addition followed by an intramolecular cyclization is proposed. Moreover, the utility of this catalytic tandem transformation was also demonstrated in an efficient gram-scale synthesis. This method provides an alternative synthetic tool for accessing a more diverse array of 2-arylindoles.

Tandem Addition/Cyclization for Access to Isoquinolines and Isoquinolones via Catalytic Carbopalladation of Nitriles.

The first example of the palladium-catalyzed sequential nucleophilic addition followed by an intramolecular cyclization of functionalized nitriles with arylboronic acids has been achieved, providing an efficient synthetic pathway to access structurally diverse isoquinolines and isoquinolones. This methodology has also been successfully applied to the total synthesis of the topoisomerase I inhibitor CWJ-a-5 (free base).