Selectivity of Br/Li exchange and deprotonation of 4,4'-dibromo-3,3'-bithiophene for synthesis of symmetrical and unsymmetrical dithienoheteroaromatic rings

J Org Chem. 2013 Mar 15;78(6):2726-30. doi: 10.1021/jo302635y. Epub 2013 Feb 14.

Abstract

The novel selective synthesis of symmetrical and unsymmetrical dithienoheteroaromatic rings (DTHAs) has been developed via intramolecular cyclization of 4,4'-dibromo-3,3'-bithiophene (3). Four reaction conditions including n-BuLi/Et2O, n-BuLi/THF, s-BuLi/Et2O, and t-BuLi/Et2O were employed to react with 3 for selective formation of two types of dicarbanions, which generate the symmetrical and unsymmetrical DTHAs after quenching with three electrophilic reagents (4a-c). The possible mechanism of formation of DTHAs was proposed. In addition, two unsymmetrical DTHAs were confirmed by X-ray single-crystal analyses.