Ruthenium-Catalyzed Intramolecular Arene C(sp2)-H Amidation for Synthesis of 3,4-Dihydroquinolin-2(1 H)-ones

Org Lett. 2021 May 7;23(9):3310-3314. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.1c00781. Epub 2021 Apr 26.

Abstract

We report the [Ru(p-cymene)(l-proline)Cl] ([Ru1])-catalyzed cyclization of 1,4,2-dioxazol-5-ones to form dihydroquinoline-2-ones in excellent yields with excellent regioselectivity via a formal intramolecular arene C(sp2)-H amidation. The reactions of the 2- and 4-substituted aryl dioxazolones proceeds initially through spirolactamization via electrophilic amidation at the arene site, which is para or ortho to the substituent. A Hammett correlation study showed that the spirolactamization is likely to occur by electrophilic nitrenoid attack at the arene, which is characterized by a negative ρ value of -0.73.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't