Cyanide as a powerful catalyst for facile synthesis of benzofused heteroaromatic compounds via aerobic oxidation

Yeon Ho Cho, Chun Young Lee, Cheol Hong Cheon

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    63 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Highly efficient synthesis of benzofused heteroaromatic compounds via aerobic oxidation catalyzed by cyanide anion has been developed. The Schiff bases derived from 2-aminophenol and aldehydes provided the corresponding benzoxazoles in high yields in the presence of a catalytic amount of cyanide in an open flask under ambient conditions without the use of any external metal co-oxidants and bases. Furthermore, we have developed a catalytic sequential one-step protocol for the synthesis of benzoxazoles by adding a catalytic amount of NaCN to Schiff bases generated in situ from 2-aminophenol and aldehydes without the isolation of imine intermediates. This one-pot protocol was further extended to the synthesis of benzothiazoles from 2-aminothiophenol and aldehydes. A variety of aldehydes could be applied to this sequential one-pot protocol and the desired benzofused azole products were obtained in high yields.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)6565-6573
    Number of pages9
    JournalTetrahedron
    Volume69
    Issue number32
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2013 Aug 12

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    This work was partly supported by the nuclear research and development program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology . We also thank Professors D.-C. Ha and K. Choi (Korea University, Seoul, Korea) for their helpful discussions.

    Keywords

    • Aerobic oxidation
    • Benzothiazoles
    • Benzoxazoles
    • Cyanide
    • One-pot reaction

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Biochemistry
    • Drug Discovery
    • Organic Chemistry

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