Magnesium Metal-Mediated Reductive Trifluoromethylation Of
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SPECIAL TOPIC 1899 Magnesium Metal-Mediated Reductive Trifluoromethylation of Aldehydes with Phenyl Trifluoromethyl Sulfone TrifluoromethylationYanchuan of Aldehydes Zhao, Jieming Zhu, Chuanfa Ni, Jinbo Hu* Key Laboratory of Organofluorine Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Ling-Ling Road, Shanghai 200032, P. R. of China E-mail: [email protected] Received 28 February 2010 der the reductive conditions appeared to be more chal- Abstract: An unprecedented reductive nucleophilic trifluorometh- 3b ylation of aldehydes by using phenyl trifluoromethyl sulfone is re- lenging. Although an alkoxide-induced nucleophilic ported. Mercury(II) chloride efficiently activates magnesium metal trifluoromethylation with 1 has been developed, the meth- to induce the desulfonylative trifluoromethylation process. The new od is only suitable for non-enolizable carbonyl com- reductive trifluoromethylation provides an alternative method for pounds.3f Because of the low cost and ready availability of efficient trifluoromethylation of non-enolizable or enolizable alde- phenyl trifluoromethyl sulfone (1) (Scheme 1), which is hydes with readily available phenyl trifluoromethyl sulfone reagent. also a precursor of trimethyl(trifluoromethane)silane,3b Key words: alkylations, aldehydes, alcohols, trifluoromethyla- further exploration of the synthetic applications of the sul- tions, phenyl trifluoromethyl sulfone fone under milder conditions is desirable. Here, we report a reductive nucleophilic trifluoromethylation of carbonyl compounds by using phenyl trifluoromethyl sulfone (1), The selective introduction of a trifluoromethyl (CF3) which is commercially available and can also be prepared group into an organic molecule is a strategy that is fre- from methyl phenyl sulfide (2) through chlorination, flu- quently used in drug design and agrochemical develop- orination, and oxidation (Scheme 1).5 ment because of the profound changes in bioactivity that O occur when a methyl group is replaced by a trifluoro- O H O Cl 2 2 HF 2 1 S PhSCF PhSCH PhSCCl 3 3 methyl group. As a result, a variety of nucleophilic, elec- 3 Ph CF AcOH 3 3 4 2 trophilic, and free-radical trifluoromethylation methods 1 have been developed,2 among which the nucleophilic tri- fluoromethylation reactions have been most extensively Scheme 1 Synthesis of phenyl trifluoromethyl sulfone (1) 2a–g – studied. Because the trifluoromethyl anion (CF3 ) is highly unstable, various compounds with the structure Reductive alkylation through desulfonylation remains a XCF3 [X = H, Br, I, SPh, TMS, SO2Ph, C(O)Y; relatively poorly studied reaction (especially when com- Y=NR1R2, OR, Ph]3 are normally used as synthons for pared with Barbier-type and Grignard-type reactions), the trifluoromethyl anion in nucleophilic trifluorometh- partly because of the greater dissociation energy of the C– 6 ylation reactions. The strategies for transferring the CF3 S bond compared with the C–X (X = Br, I) bond. As a re- group and breaking the X–C bond in XCF3 can be gener- sult, reductive desulfonylation generally requires harsher ally categorized into two types: a) electron transfer from a reaction conditions than do reductive dehalogenation re- suitable reducing agent to XCF3 (X = Br, I, SPh, actions. Indeed, the known desulfonylative alkylation re- 2h,3a,b SO2Ph), and b) nucleophilic attack of X in XCF3 actions usually employ relatively expensive samarium 1 2 7 8 [X = H, SPh, TMS, SO2Ph, C(O)Y (Y = NR R , OR, diiodide or lithium naphthalenide as a reducing agent, 3c–g Ph)] to cleave the X–C bond of XCF3. Because of the which hampered their widespread adoption. We envis- Downloaded by: Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry. Copyrighted material. relatively low bond-dissociation energy of XCF3 (X = I, aged that phenyl trifluoromethyl sulfone (1) might act as TMS) and the ease with which these undergo reduction or a good electron acceptor because of the high electron- nucleophilic attack, trifluoro(iodo)methane and trimeth- withdrawing ability of the trifluoromethyl group and that yl(trifluoromethane)silane (Ruppert–Prakash reagent) are the consequent reductive trifluoromethylation should pro- considered to be the most versatile reagents of types a) ceed smoothly. and b), respectively. Initial results were, however, quite discouraging. We Previously, we were interested in the exploration of syn- found that reducing agents such as magnesium, alumi- thetic applications of fluorinated sulfones.4 Although the num, zinc, or samarium diiodide in various solvents led to reductive trifluoromethylation of chlorosilanes by using recovery of phenyl trifluoromethyl sulfone (1). After phenyl trifluoromethyl sulfone (1) was successfully screening of several metal salts as additives for activating achieved in 2003, reactions with carbonyl compounds un- the reducing metals, we found that mercury(II) chloride efficiently activates magnesium to induce the required SYNTHESIS 2010, No. 11, pp 1899–1904xx.xx.2010 desulfonylation reaction (Table 1). The solvent also plays Advanced online publication: 23.04.2010 an important role in the desulfonylation reaction, as the re- DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1218752; Art ID: C00810SS action only occurs in highly polar solvents such as N,N- © Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York 1900 Y. Zhao et al. SPECIAL TOPIC dimethylformamide or dimethyl sulfoxide, which facili- of this new nucleophilic trifluoromethylation reaction be- tate the electron-transfer process and stabilize the anionic tween 1 and carbonyl compounds 5a–l. On treatment with intermediate. sulfone 1, various aldehydes reacted smoothly to the cor- responding trifluoromethyl carbinols 6 in moderate-to- Table 1 Effects of the Reaction Conditions on the Reductive good yields (Table 3; entries 1–8, 10–12). Aldehydes with a Desulfonylation of Phenyl Trifluoromethyl Sulfone (1) strong electron-withdrawing groups gave lower yields be- reducing metal (1 equiv) cause of the rapid reduction and pinacol coupling of these O O additive (5 mol%) S HCF substrates under the reductive conditions (entries 3, 5, 8, 3 Ph CF 3 solvent and 9). Moreover, under the reductive trifluoromethyla- 1 tion conditions, the enolizable aldehyde 5l gave an accept- Entry Reducing metal Solvent Additive Conv.b (%) able yield that was superior to that of the previously developed alkoxide-induced nucleophilic trifluorometh- 3f 1Mg DMFNiCl2 0 ylation. Note that the magnesium–mercury(II) chloride– 2Mg DMFPbCl 0 methanol system is used extensively in reductive desulfo- 2 nylation reactions,9 but, to the best of our knowledge, the 3 Mg DMF CuBr2 0 corresponding desulfonylative alkylation reaction in a nonprotic solvent has never been reported. 4Mg DMFHgCl2 >99 Note that, unlike fluoride-induced nucleophilic trifluo- 5 Mg THF HgCl2 0 romethylation with trimethyl(trifluoromethyl) silane, our – 6 Mg DMSO HgCl2 >99 method generates the CF3 species (or its synthetic equiv- alent) in the presence of a strong Lewis acid, so that sub- 7Zn DMFHgCl2 0 strates with a low electrophilicity (such as N,N- 8Al DMFHgCl2 0 O O OH 3 M HCl , BF OEt a Mg, HgCl S ⋅ 3 2 For all cases, PhSO2CF3 was added to a mixture of reducing metal, 2 CF 3 OH C F 3 15 °C to r.t. additive, and solvent at r.t. DMF, − b Determined by 19F NMR of the crude reaction mixture, and based on H the consumption of 1. 4 19 77% F NMR Next, we chose anisaldehyde (5a) as a model compound H N NH to optimize the reactant ratio and reaction temperature 2 (Table 2). We found that when the reactant ratio 1/5a/Mg/ O N NO H 2 2 H HgCl was 2:1:2:0.06 and the reaction temperature N 2 N 7 ranged between –15 °C and room temperature, the corre- CF 3 O N NO 2 sponding trifluoromethylated product 6a was obtained in 2 17% 88% yield (Table 2, entry 4). 8 Having determined the optimal reaction conditions Scheme 2 Synthesis and trapping of the hydrated form of the (Table 2, entry 4), we evaluated the scope and limitations trifluoroacetaldehyde (fluoral) Table 2 Effects of the Reaction Conditions for Reductive Desulfonylation Trifluoromethylation with Phenyl Trifluoromethyl Sulfone (1) OH CHO O O Mg, HgCl 2 CF 3 + S Downloaded by: Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry. Copyrighted material. solvent Ph CF 3 MeO MeO 1 5a 6a a b Entry Temp (°C) Molar ratio HgCl2 (mol%) Solvent Yield (%) 1/5a/Mg 1 –50 °C to r.t. 1:1:1 3 DMF 50 2 –50 °C to r.t. 2:1:2 3 DMF 80 3 0 °C to rt 1.5:1:1.5 6 DMF 79 4 –15 °C to r.t. 2:1:2 3 DMF 88 5 r.t. 1:1:2 2 DMSO 28c a Relative to the amount of Mg metal used. b Isolated yield. c Determined by 19F NMR spectroscopy. Synthesis 2010, No. 11, 1899–1904 © Thieme Stuttgart · New York SPECIAL TOPIC Trifluoromethylation of Aldehydes 1901 Table 3 Reductive Desulfonylation–Trifluoromethylation of Aldehydes with Phenyl Trifluoromethyl Sulfone (1) O OH Mg, HgCl (3 mol%) O O 2 S + 1 1 R H CF 15 °C to r.t. DMF, R − 3 Ph CF 3 H 1 5 6 Entrya Substrate Product Yield (%)b 1 6a R = 4-MeO 88 2 6b R = 3,4-(MeO)2 82 3 6c R = 2-Cl 60 CHO HO CF 4 3 6d R=4-Ph 72 5 6e R = 3-Cl 53 R 6 6f R=4-t-Bu 69 R 7 6g R = 4-BnO 78 i 5a– 8 6h R = 2,4-Cl2 45 9 6i R=4-O2N 28 OH CHO 10 6j 55 CF3 5j CHO HO CF3 11 6k 60 5k OH CHO 12c 6l 45 CF3 5l a In all cases, the molar ratio of reactants was 1/5/Mg/HgCl2 = 2.0:1.0:2.0:0.06. b Isolated yield. c MgCl2 was added to neutralize the basicity of the reaction system. O O O– O O Mg, HgCl2 R H S – (1) S – + CF3 Ph CF – Ph O R CF3 3 2 e H 9 1 6 Br O O O O Mg, HgCl2 S S (2) Ph CF3 DMF DMF, 60 °C Downloaded by: Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry.