Synlett 2004(9): 1622-1624  
DOI: 10.1055/s-2004-829062
LETTER
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Reactions of Cyclopropyl Aryl Ketones with Sulfonamides Mediated by Zr(OTf)4: Cascade Preparation of 5-Aryl-3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrrole

Min Shi*, Yong-Hua Yang, Bo Xu
State Key Laboratory of Organometallic Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 354 Fenglin Lu, Shanghai 200032, P. R. China
Fax: +86(21)64166128; e-Mail: mshi@pub.sioc.ac.cn;
Further Information

Publication History

Received 29 March 2004
Publication Date:
01 July 2004 (online)

Abstract

We found that the Lewis acid Zr(OTf)4 can effectively promote the ring-opening reaction of cyclopropyl aryl ketones with sulfonamides. By controlling the reaction conditions, we could obtain the ring-opened products 3 and the cyclized products 5 in moderate to good yields. This process provides a novel and efficient route for the synthesis of 5-aryl-3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrrole in the presence of a Lewis acid.

3

In the presence of catalytic amount of Zr(OTf)4, a prolonged reaction time was required. During a prolonged reaction time, this reaction accompanied the cyclized product 5. In order to accelerate the reaction rate and let the reaction complete within a short time to give the ring-opened compound 3 as a major product, Zr(OTf)4 (100 mol%) was employed.

4

A variety of Lewis acids and solvent have been tested in this reaction (unpublished results from our laboratory). As a result of these investigations, we found that Zr(OTf)4 is the best Lewis acid for this reaction.