A mixture of equal amounts of CuBr−SMe2, LiBr, and
LiSPh in THF at 0 °C furnished a new soluble
copper catalyst that was highly efficient at coupling primary,
secondary, tertiary, aryl, vinyl, and allylic Grignard
reagents to primary tosylates and primary Grignard reagents to
secondary tosylates and mesylates, all with the use
of only 1 equiv of Grignard reagent. The new catalyst was shown to
be much more reactive than copper catalysts
CuBr and Li2CuCl4 and more efficient in
the transference of secondary and tertiary alkyl groups than lower
order
cuprates (Gilman reagents) and demonstrated more reactivity than the
lower order cuprates with its ability to couple
primary Grignard reagents to secondary sulfonates. The Grignard
reagent/catalyst system was compatible with an
ester functionalized tosylate, thus proving to be more chemoselective
than a Grignard reagent without the catalyst.
The catalyst exhibited good reactivity below room temperature, and
with the addition of 6% v/v of HMPA to the
catalyst solution, excellent yields of coupled product were obtained
within a 25−67 °C temperature range. 1H
NMR
demonstrated that the catalyst solution consisted of several species
that most likely were composed of copper ligated
with thiophenol, THF, and LiBr in aggregated forms.
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