Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Reinhard W. Hoffmann on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
Many thanks for the fruitful and entertaining discussions.
Abstract
The synthesis of vinyl bromide derivatives was realised by a zinc-mediated addition
of a benzylic bromide to a terminal alkyne. The geometry of the C=C bond is dependent
on the amount of zinc powder applied. When 5 mol% of Zn is used, the Z-configured vinyl bromide is generated while with 150 mol% the E-geometry is obtained predominantly. In a three-component one-pot reaction, the in
situ generated vinyl bromides were reacted further in a palladium-catalysed Suzuki
cross-coupling reaction utilizing aromatic boronic acids to obtain trisubstituted
double bonds in good overall yields. The reactions were conducted on a 5–20 mmol scale
to visualise that the reactions are also capable of generating larger amounts of products.
Key words
alkynes - cross coupling - palladium - vinyl bromides - zinc