Pd-Catalyzed Tandem Reaction of 2-Aminostyryl Nitriles with Arylboronic Acids: Synthesis of 2-Arylquinolines.

A novel palladium-catalyzed protocol for the synthesis of 2-arylquinolines via tandem reaction of 2-aminostyryl nitriles with arylboronic acids has been developed with good functional group tolerance. The presented approach offers a new synthetic pathway toward the core structures of 2-arylquinolines compared to classical condensation reaction of (E)-2-aminostyryl aryl ketones. Moreover, the present synthetic route could be readily scaled up to gram quantity without difficulty. Preliminary mechanistic experiments showed that this transformation involves a nucleophilic addition of aryl palladium species to the nitrile to generate an aryl ketone intermediate followed by an intramolecular cyclization and dehydration to quinoline ring.