Junzo Otera

Dihalo-Substituted Dibenzopentalenes: Their Practical Synthesis and Transformation to Dibenzopentalene Derivatives

Diiodo- and bromo, iodo-substituted dibenzopentalenes were obtained by treatment of 5,6,11,12-tetradehydrodibenzo[a,e]cyclooctene with I(2) and IBr, respectively. These dihalo-substituted pentalenes reacted with terminal ethynes in Sonogashira coupling and with arylboronic acid in Suzuki-Miyaura coupling to give a series of phenylethynyl- and/or aryl-substituted pentalenes. Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of the halopentalenes with in situ prepared pentaleneboronic esters provided bis-, tri-, and tetra(dibenzopentalene)s. It was found that these dibenzopentalene oligomers underwent facile electrochemical reduction and exhibited a bathochromic shift in UV-vis absorption spectra because of their expanded π-systems.

One-Pot Transformation of Ph2P(O)-Protected Ethynes: Deprotection Followed by Transition Metal-Catalyzed Coupling

Ph2P(O)-protected ethynes were successfully transformed to arylethynes in one-pot manner through t-BuOK-catalyzed deprotection followed by Sonogashira coupling with aryl halide. The arylethynes were obtained similarly by Ph2P(O)-deprotection, stannylation of the resulting terminal ethynes, and Migita-Kosugi-Stille coupling. Deprotection followed by intramolecular Eglinton coupling could be carried out in one-pot to provide cyclic butadiynes.

Substituted 5,6,11,12-Tetradehydrodibenzo[a,e]cyclooctenes: Syntheses, Properties, and DFT Studies of Substituted Sondheimer–Wong Diynes

Highly strained cyclic acetylenes 5,6,11,12-tetradehydrodibenzo[a,e]cyclooctenes (Sondheimer-Wong diynes) having various substituents on their benzene rings were synthesized successfully by one-pot treatment of the corresponding formyl sulfones with diethyl chlorophosphate/lithium hexamethyldisilazide (LiHMDS) and then lithium diisopropylamide (LDA). When mixtures of two types of formyl sulfones bearing different substituents were subjected to this protocol, the unsymmetrically substituted Sondheimer-Wong diynes could be synthesized in a stepwise manner by isolation of the heterocoupled vinyl sulfone intermediates followed by their treatment with LDA. The UV-vis absorption spectra and cyclic voltammograms of the substituted Sondheimer-Wong diynes were recorded. The electronic effect of substituents on the diynes was investigated in their click reactions and nucleophilic and electrophilic additions.