Volume 42, Issue 7 pp. 711-718
Concise Report

Enantioselective Synthesis of Benzimidazole Atropisomers Featuring a N-N Axis

Fang-Bei Ge

Fang-Bei Ge

College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, 266071 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Qi-Kun Yin

Qi-Kun Yin

School of Pharmacy, Key Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology and Drug Evaluation, Ministry of Education, Yantai University, Yantai, Shandong, 264005 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Chuan-Jun Lu

Chuan-Jun Lu

College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, 266071 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Xuan Xuan

Xuan Xuan

School of Pharmacy, Key Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology and Drug Evaluation, Ministry of Education, Yantai University, Yantai, Shandong, 264005 China

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Jia Feng

Jia Feng

College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, 266071 China

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Ren-Rong Liu

Corresponding Author

Ren-Rong Liu

College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, 266071 China

E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author
First published: 07 December 2023

Dedicated to the Special Issue of Emerging Investigators in 2024.

Comprehensive Summary

Atroposelective synthesis of N-N atropisomers is an emerging area but remains underexplored; in particular, the synthesis of N-N benzimidazole atropisomers is still unprecedented. Herein, the first enantioselective synthesis of N-N benzimidazole atropisomers via the palladium-catalyzed de novo construction of benzimidazole skeleton is presented. With readily available palladium catalyst and biphosphine ligand, a broad range of nonbiaryl benzimidazole and indole-benzimidazole atropisomers were conveniently accessed in high yields and with excellent enantioselectivities. Significantly, these N-N benzimidazole atropisomers showed great antitumor activity and selectivity to breast cancer MCF-7 cells. The simple catalytic system, broad substrate scope, high enantioselectivity, and good bioactivity make this approach highly attractive.image

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