Zheng Bin, Schmidt Michael A, Eastgate Martin D
Chemical Development, Bristol-Myers Squibb, 1 Squibb Drive, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903, United States.
J Org Chem. 2016 Apr 15;81(8):3112-8. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.5b02769. Epub 2016 Mar 28.
Palladium(II) carboxylate salts have been shown to catalyze the oxidation of various hydroquinones to benzoquinones in the presence of t-BuOOH. This new catalytic system has been integrated into the oxidative 1,4-functionalization of cyclic 1,3-dienes where the palladium plays a remarkable dual role, catalyzing both the diene oxidation itself and the regeneration of the active quinone oxidant, which is required for diene functionalization. These new conditions offer considerable increases in reaction rate over prior art and allow a significant decrease in the equivalents of the nucleophilic carboxylate required for full conversion.