Tosyloxy- and mesyloxyflavones derived from abundant and biologically important hydroxyflavones
were used to synthesize a series of functionalized flavones through versatile palladium-catalyzed
cross-coupling reactions. A Pd(OAc)2/2-[2-(dicyclohexylphosphino)phenyl]-1-methyl-1H-indole system effectively catalyzed the reactions of a broad range of tosyloxy- and
mesyloxyflavones as electrophilic coupling partners with various nucleophiles to give
the corresponding products in good to excellent yields. Catalyst loadings of as little
as 0.1 mol% Pd were successfully used. Importantly, we demonstrated that this protocol
provided a significantly improved efficiency in the synthesis of a potential chromen-4-one-based
analogue of a potent inhibitor of DNA-dependent protein kinase.
Key words
palladium catalysis - phosphine ligands - cross-coupling reactions - tosylates - mesylates
- flavones