Synthesis of Imidazoles and Oxazoles via a Palladium-Catalyzed Decarboxylative Addition/Cyclization Reaction Sequence of Aromatic Carboxylic Acids with Functionalized Aliphatic Nitriles
efficient approach for the assembly of multiply substituted imidazoles and oxazoles in a single-step manner. These transformations are based on a decarboxylation addition and annulation of readily accessible aromatic carboxylic acids and aliphatic nitriles and exhibit good functional group compatibility and a high step economy. The reaction is scalable, and as-prepared products could be transformed into practical
for the synthesis of 0-substituted cyanohydrins from aldehydes and ketones, in the absence of solvent, employing minimum amounts of the corresponding cyanides has been optimised. Aldehydes react more rapidly than ketones using triethylamine as catalyst offering in both cases almost quantitative yields of the corresponding O-trimethylsilyl, O-methoxycarbonyl, O-benzoyl and O-acetyl cyanohydrins.
A practical palladium-catalyzed ortho-olefination of O-acetyl cyanohydrins assisted by synergetic directing groups has been developed. Thus, a range of olefinated O-acetyl cyanohydrins were synthesized in moderate to good yields. The reaction occurs efficiently with high regioselectivity and with a satisfactory tolerance of functional groups.