Browsing by Author "Pankajakshan, Sreekumar"

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    Synthetic and mechanistic prospects of homogeneous gold catalysis
    (2009) Pankajakshan, Sreekumar; Hashmi, A. Stephen K. (Prof. Dr.)
    a) The first chapter of this thesis manifests the exploration of homogeneous gold-catalyzed conversions of furan containing aryl-ynamides and ynol ethers. Enynes boast to be the most explored substrate structures in the realm of homogeneous gold catalysis, whereas the reactivity of ene-ynamides and ene-ynol ethers are much less explored till date.34, 45 Hashmi and co-workers recently reported the homogeneous gold-catalyzed synthesis of phenols from furan containing ynamides/ynol ethers.45e These substrates showed excellent reactivity and selectivity apparently owing to the heteroatom directly attached to the alkyne unit. Impressed with the reactivity and high selectivity of these systems, we decided to explore the catalytic activity of the aryl substituted variants of these compounds. Gold catalysis of aryl-ynamides The aryl-ynamide substrates turned out to be interesting candidates for gold catalysis. The mode of reactivity depended on the tether length. The substrates with two carbon tether underwent a Friedel-Crafts type reaction upon subjected to gold catalysts and furnished benzannulated arenes in moderate to excellent yields (Scheme C). A combination of Ph3PAuCl /AgBF4 (5 mol%, 1:1) in CH2Cl2 or CHCl3 was found to be the best choice of catalyst. The reaction conditions were mild and a broad spectrum of polyarenes and polyheteroarenes were synthesized. The substrates carrying an unactivated arene failed to react even under higher temperature and prolonged reaction time. The gold catalysis of substrates 58r-58t with a longer tether took a completely different pathway and gave rise to cyclopentadiene structures (Scheme D). Similar to shorter tethered substrates, electron withdrawing groups on the arene were not tolerated. b) The second chapter of this thesis deals with the development of gold-catalyzed transformations of furan containing alkynes that prove the potential intermediacy of a cationic intermediate in these types of reactions. The actual electronic state of the intermediate in gold-catalyzed enyne cycloisomerizations is a hot spot in recent scientific reports.20a-c A cyclopropyl "carbene" form of the intermediate has been used by most of the authors. But it is important to note that such a species is yet to be isolated or characterized spectroscopically. Recently Fürstner et al., proposed remarkable experimental evidence for the involvement of the cationic form of this intermediate in gold-catalyzed cyclizations.20a,20c The scenario demands the consideration of the actual electronic state of the intermediate as a mesomeric/tautomeric package of different canonical forms (Scheme H). In the context of this thesis it was found that furyl-alkynes carrying electron donating substituents in the α-position of the tether led to the formation of unexpected five-membered structures (instead of the expected phenols) when subjected to gold catalysts (Scheme I). The observed reactivity pattern for the substrates 116/118 was highly informative and served as an experimental evidence for the significant contribution of the cationic form of the intermediate AO in the mesomeric/tautomeric equilibria shown in the scheme H. A mechanistic proposal based on this intermediate was suggested for this hitherto unknown transformation in the gold catalysis of furyl-alkynes (Scheme J). c) The third chapter of this thesis elaborates the unexpected formation of N,O-acetals from oxanorbornadienes-the potential precursors for phenols- upon exposure to gold and other Lewis acids (Scheme K). AuCl was found to be the best Lewis acid catalyst under the given conditions, and Yb(CF3SO3)3 also showed remarkable reactivity. The generality and the absence of any other products/side products confirmed that the reactions followed general acid catalysis. The observation that there is a net reversal in the connectivity of the tether in the product hinted at a complex mechanism operating in the process. d) The fourth chapter of this thesis describes the investigations carried out on the aerobic oxidation reactions catalyzed by gold. A homogeneous catalytic system comprising of gold(I) chloride, n-butyl lithium and sodium carbonate was developed and was found to oxidize primary aromatic alcohols to aldehydes. The system was poor in activity towards aliphatic and secondary alcohols (Scheme L).