Six‐ and Eightfold Palladium‐Catalyzed Cross‐Coupling Reactions of Hexa‐ and Octabromoarenes

Palladium‐catalyzed sixfold coupling of hexabromobenzene ( 20 ) with a variety of alkenylboronates and alkenylstannanes provided hexaalkenylbenzenes 1 in up to 73 % and 16 to 41 % yields, respectively. In some cases pentaalkenylbenzenes 21 were isolated as the main products (up to 75 %). Some functionally substituted hexaalkenylbenzene derivatives containing oxygen or sulfur atoms in each of their six arms have also been prepared (16 to 24 % yield). The sixfold coupling of the less sterically encumbered 2,3,6,7,10,11‐hexabromotriphenylene ( 24 ) gave the desired hexakis(3,3‐dimethyl‐1‐butenyl)triphenylene ( 25 ) in 93 % yield. The first successful cross‐coupling reaction of octabromonaphthalene ( 26 ) gave octakis‐(3,3‐dimethyl‐1‐butenyl)naphthalene ( 27 ) in 21 % yield. Crystal structure analyses disclose that, depending on the nature of the substituents, the six arms are positioned either all on the same side of the central benzene ring as in 1 a and 1 i , making them nicely cup‐shaped molecules, or alternatingly above and below the central plane as in 1 h and 23 . In 27 , the four arms at C‐1,4,6,7 are down, while the others are up, or vice versa. Upon catalytic hydrogenation, 1 a yielded 89 % of hexakis( tert ‐butylethyl)benzene ( 23 ). Some efficient accesses to alkynes with sterically demanding substituents are also described. Elimination of phosphoric acid from the enol phosphate derived from the corresponding methyl ketones gave 1‐ethynyladamantane ( 3 b , 62 % yield), 1‐ethynyl‐1‐methylcyclohexane ( 3 c , 85 %) and 3,3‐dimethylpentyne ( 3 e , 65 %). 1‐(Trimethylsilyl)ethynylcyclopropane ( 7 ) was used to prepare 1‐ethynyl‐1‐methylcyclopropane ( 3 d ) (two steps, 64 % overall yield). The functionally substituted alkynes 3 f – h were synthesized in multistep sequences starting from the propargyl chloride 11 , which was prepared in high yields from the dimethylpropargyl alcohol 10 (94 %). The alkenylstannanes 19 were prepared by hydrostannation of the corresponding alkynes in moderate to high yields (42–97 %), and the alkenylboronates 2 and 4 by hydroboration with catecholborane (27–96 % yield) or pinacolborane (26–69 % yield).