Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.140, No.51, 17962-17967, 2018
Extended pi-Conjugated Structures via Dehydrative C-C Coupling
We describe a methodology for the synthesis of Dehydrative C-C Coupling extended aromatic structures through dehydrative C-C coupling from readily accessible diols. Treatment of the diols with a Bronsted acid (para-toluenesulfonic acid) induces the nucleophilic addition of an arene or heteroarene, yielding fully aromatic products in high to quantitative yields with thiophenes, furan, indole, and N,N-dimethylaniline as coupling partners. The C-C coupling reactions proceed under mild, open flask conditions and offer high atom economy, while providing an attractive alternative approach to metal-catalyzed cross-coupling.