Stefan Verbeeck

Dual effect of halides in the Stille reaction: in situ halide metathesis and catalyst stabilization.

Halide anions can increase or decrease the transmetallation rate of the Stille reaction through in situ halide metathesis. Although the influence of the halogen present in oxidative addition complexes on the transmetallation rate with organostannanes was already known, the application of in situ halide metathesis to accelerate cross-coupling reactions with organometallic reagents is not described in the literature yet. In addition a second unprecedented role of halides was discovered. Halide anions stabilize the [Pd(0)(L)(2)] catalyst in Stille reactions, by means of [Pd(0)X(L)(2)](-) formation (X=Cl, I), hereby preventing its leaching from the catalytic cycle. Both arene (iodobenzene) and azaheteroarene (2-halopyridine, halopyrazine, 2-halopyrimidine) substrates were used.

ONSH: Optimization of Oxidative Alkylamination Reactions through Study of the Reaction Mechanism

Oxidative alkylamination of electron-deficient (hetero)aromatic compounds, via the nucleophilic substitution of hydrogen, is a methodology that has made significant progress since the introduction of AgPy(2)MnO(4) as oxidant. This oxidant generally gives good conversions and yields, whereas the use of KMnO(4) only sometimes works equally well. In order to rationalize this, the reaction mechanism of oxidative alkylamination has been studied. 3-Nitropyridine (1), 1,3-dinitrobenzene (2), and quinazoline (3) were chosen as model substrates and n-butylamine and pyrrolidine as model alkylamines. The rate-limiting step of the mechanism for these substrate/alkylamine combinations was determined. With the use of (1)H NMR spectroscopy thermodynamic properties of sigma(Eta)-adduct formation were deduced and the effect of additives on the adduct formation was investigated. The fundamental insights resulting from these studies led to the identification of a cheap additive (tetrabutylammonium chloride), which in combination with the standard and cheap oxidant KMnO(4) generally gave excellent yields, similar to the ones previously obtained with more expensive AgPy(2)MnO(4).

Oxidative Addition of Haloheteroarenes to Palladium(0): Concerted versus SNAr‐Type Mechanism

The kinetics of the oxidative additions of haloheteroarenes HetX (X=I, Br, Cl) to [Pd(0) (PPh3 )2 ] (generated from [Pd(0) (PPh3 )4 ]) have been investigated in THF and DMF and the rate constants have been determined. In contrast to the generally accepted concerted mechanism, Hammett plots obtained for substituted 2-halopyridines and solvent effects reveal a reaction mechanism dependent on the halide X of HetX: an unprecedented SN Ar-type mechanism for X=Br or Cl and a classical concerted mechanism for X=I. These results are supported by DFT studies.

Synthesis of functionalized pyridazin-3(2H)-ones via nucleophilic substitution of hydrogen (SNH).

Reaction of 2-benzyl-5-halopyridazin-3(2H)-ones (3) with Grignard reagents followed by quenching with electrophiles unexpectedly yielded 4,5-disubstituted pyridazin-3(2H)-ones instead of 5-substituted pyridazin-3(2H)-ones. These reactions represent the first examples of cine substitution in which the anionic σ(H)-adduct is quenched by electrophiles (other than a proton) before elimination takes place. Insight into the reaction mechanism led to the direct transformation of 2-benzylpyridazin-3(2H)-one (7) and 2-benzyl-6-chloropyridazin-3(2H)-one (9) into the corresponding C-4 alkyl and aryl derivatives (when Br(2) was used as the electrophile).