Selective monolithiation of dibromobiaryls using microflow systems

Org Lett. 2008 Sep 18;10(18):3937-40. doi: 10.1021/ol8015572. Epub 2008 Aug 23.

Abstract

Selective monolithiation of dibromobiaryls, such as 2,2'-dibromobiphenyl, 4,4'-dibromobiphenyl, 2,7-dibromo-9,9-dioctylfluorene, 2,2'-dibromo-1,1'-binaphthyl, and 5,5'-dibromo-2,2'-bithiophene, with 1 equiv of n-butyllithium followed by the reaction with electrophiles was achieved using a microflow system by virtue of fast micromixing and precise temperature control. Sequential introduction of two different electrophiles based on this method was also achieved using a microflow system composed of four micromixers and four microtube reactors.