An efficient and direct ruthenium-catalyzed regioselective hydroxymethylation of (hetero)arenes via C-H activation with paraformaldehyde as a hydroxymethylating reagent is described. The corresponding products can be obtained in good to excellent yield. A number of aryl aldehydes can also be used in place of paraformaldehyde giving the desired alcohol products with similarly good results.
Ruthenium-Catalyzed Direct Hydroxymethylation of Aryl C–H Bonds
作者:Yunxiang Wu、Bing Zhou
DOI:10.1021/acscatal.7b00078
日期:2017.3.3
An ideal addition of "inert" aryl C-H bonds to formaldehyde has been achieved to synthesize a variety of hydroxymethylarenes via a Ru(II)-catalyzed C-H activation. Many different directing groups (not limited to strongly heterocyclic directing groups) can be used, and this challenging C-H hydroxymethylation proceeds in the presence of water and air, without stoichiometric undesirable byproducts, thus offering an environmentally benign method of hydroxymethylarene synthesis that can be readily scaled up.