A catalytic amount of Pd(dba)(2) ligated by either carbene precursor N,N'-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-4,5-dihydroimidazolium (1) or P(t-Bu)(3) mediated the coupling of aryl halides and ester enolates to produce alpha-aryl esters in high yields at room temperature. The reaction was highly tolerant of functionalities and substitution patterns on the aryl halide. Improved protocols for the selective monoarylation of tert-butyl acetate and the efficient arylation of alpha,alpha-disubstituted esters were developed with LiNCy(2) as base and P(t-Bu)(3) as ligand. In addition, tert-butyl esters, such as those of Naproxen and Flurbiprofen, were prepared from tert-butyl propionate and aryl bromides in high yields in the presence of Pd(dba)(2) and the hindered, saturated heterocyclic carbene ligand precursor.

Respiratory tract bacterial strains are becoming increasingly resistant to currently marketed macrolide antibiotics. The current alternative telithromycin (1) from the newer ketolide class of macrolides addresses resistance but is hampered by serious safety concerns, hepatotoxicity in particular. We have discovered a novel series of azetidinyl ketolides that focus on mitigation of hepatotoxicity by minimizing hepatic turnover and time-dependent inactivation of CYP3A isoforms in the liver without compromising the potency and efficacy of 1.

Anions of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds are some of the most common ligands in transition-metal chemistry. [1, 2] They typically bind in an h 2 -O,O fashion, [3] have delocalized charge, and donate electron density more weakly to a metal center than alkyls or alkoxides. They are usually supporting ligands that are ancillary to the site of reaction. Anions of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds are also common nucleophiles in metal-catalyzed allylic substitution, [4±6] but the facility of this chemistry relies on external attack of the anion without coordination to the metal center. If metal fragments could induce reactivity from coordinated versions of these anions, then complexes of these common ligands could serve as intermediates in catalytic processes.Complexes of malonate anions are likely intermediates in recently developed palladium-catalyzed arylations of malonates. [7±11] Although palladium complexes of malonate anions have been isolated previously, [12±16] their reactivity has been limited. [17±20] We report here reductive elimination of arylmalonate and acetylarylacetone from isolated aryl palladium complexes of malonate and acetylacetone anions, respectively. Our results suggest that the propensity of these complexes to undergo reductive elimination depends critically on the steric properties of the ancillary phosphane ligand.Our synthesis of aryl palladium malonates is summarized in Scheme 1. Addition of dimethyl malonate or diethyl phenylmalonate to the basic PPh 3 -ligated palladium hydroxide dimers 1 a [21, 22] and 1 b generated the O,O'-bound palladium dimethyl malonate complexes 2 a±c. Complexes 2 a and 2 c were characterized by X-ray diffraction (Figure 1). No unusual angles at the palladium center were found in 2 a or COMMUNICATIONS

The hypothesis that the psychological side effects associated with the anesthetic phencyclidine (PCP) may be caused by irreversible binding of PCP or its reactive metabolite(s) to critical macromolecules in the brain has resulted in numerous in vitro studies aimed at characterizing pathways of PCP bioactivation. The studies described herein extend the current knowledge of PCP metabolism and provide details on a previously unknown metabolic activation pathway of PCP. Following incubations with NADPH- and GSH-supplemented human and rat liver microsomes and recombinant P450 2B enzymes, two sulfhydryl conjugates with MH+ ions at 547 and 482 Da, respectively, were detected by LC/MS/MS. Shebley et al. [(2006) Drug Metab. Dispos. 34, 375-383] have also observed the GSH conjugate 1 with MH+ at 547 Da in PCP incubations with rat P450 2B1 and rabbit P450 2B4 isoforms fortified with NADPH and GSH. The molecular weight of 1 is consistent with a bioactivation pathway involving Michael addition of the sulfhydryl nucleophile to the putative 2,3-dihydropyridinium metabolite of PCP obtained via a four-electron oxidation of the piperidine ring in the parent compound. The mass spectrum of the novel GSH adduct 2 with an MH+ ion at 482 Da was suggestive of a unique PCP bioactivation pathway involving initial ortho- or para-hydroxylation of the phenyl ring in PCP followed by spontaneous decomposition to piperidine and an electrophilic quinone methide intermediate, which upon reaction with GSH yielded adduct 2. The LC retention times and mass spectral properties of enzymatically generated 2 were identical to those of a reference standard obtained via reaction of GSH with synthetic p-hydroxyPCP in phosphate buffer (pH 7.4, 37 degrees C). 1H NMR and 13C-distortionless enhancement by polarization transfer (DEPT) NMR spectral studies on synthetically generated 2 suggested that the structural integrity of the p-hydroxyphenyl and cyclohexyl rings likely was preserved and that the site of GSH addition was the benzylic carbon joining the two scaffolds. The formation of 2 in human microsomes was reduced upon addition of the dual P450 2C19/P450 2B6 inhibitor (+)- N-3-benzylnirvanol. Consistent with this finding, both recombinant P450 2B6 and P450 2C19 catalyzed PCP bioactivation to 2. In the absence of GSH, synthetic p-hydroxyPCP underwent rapid decomposition (t1/2 approximately 5.2 min) to afford p-hydroxyphenylcyclohexanol and p-hydroxyphenylcyclohexene, presumably via the quinone methide intermediate. Overall, our findings on the facile degradation of synthetic p-hydroxyPCP to yield an electrophilic quinone methide intermediate capable of reacting with nucleophiles, including GSH and water, suggest an inherent instability of the putative phenolic PCP metabolite. Thus, if formed enzymatically in vivo, p-hydroxyPCP may not require further metabolism to liberate the quinone methide, which can then react with macromolecules. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a quinone methide reactive intermediate obtained in human-liver microsomal me...

Herein described is an operationally simple procedure for generating benzyl indium species from readily available benzyl bromides and indium metal followed by in situ palladium-catalyzed coupling with aryl halides. The procedure provides diarylmethanes in modest to excellent yield and tolerates a variety of functional groups in both coupling partners.