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Abstract The formation of aryl‐alkyl ether bonds through cross coupling of alcohols with aryl halides represents a useful strategic departure from classical SN2 methods. Numerous tactics relying on Pd‐, Cu‐, and Ni‐based catalytic systems have emerged over the past several years. Herein we disclose a Ni‐catalyzed electrochemically driven protocol to achieve this useful transformation with a broad substrate scope in an operationally simple way. This electrochemical method does not require strong base, exogenous expensive transition metal catalysts (e.g., Ir, Ru), and can easily be scaled up in either a batch or flow setting. Interestingly, e‐etherification exhibits an enhanced substrate scope over the mechanistically related photochemical variant as it tolerates tertiary amine functional groups in the alcohol nucleophile.
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Quantum Dot‐Catalyzed Photoreductive Removal of Sulfonyl‐Based Protecting Groups
Abstract This Communication describes the use of CuInS2/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) as photocatalysts for the reductive deprotection of aryl sulfonyl‐protected phenols. For a series of aryl sulfonates with electron‐withdrawing substituents, the rate of deprotection for the corresponding phenyl aryl sulfonates increases with decreasing electrochemical potential for the two electron transfers within the catalytic cycle. The rate of deprotection for a substrate that contains a carboxylic acid, a known QD‐binding group, is accelerated by more than a factor of ten from that expected from the electrochemical potential for the transformation, a result that suggests that formation of metastable electron donor–acceptor complexes provides a significant kinetic advantage. This deprotection method does not perturb the common NHBoc or toluenesulfonyl protecting groups and, as demonstrated with an estrone substrate, does not perturb proximate ketones, which are generally vulnerable to many chemical reduction methods used for this class of reactions.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1664184
- PAR ID:
- 10158581
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Angewandte Chemie
- Volume:
- 132
- Issue:
- 33
- ISSN:
- 0044-8249
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 14195-14199
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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