Benzylic manganese halides, sulfonates, and phosphates: Preparation, coupling reactions, and applications in organic synthesis

The use of highly active manganese, prepared by the Rieke method, for the direct preparation of benzylic manganese reagents was investigated. The oxidative addition of the highly active manganese (Mn*) to benzylic halides was easily completed under mild conditions. More importantly, benzylic manganese sulfonates and phosphates were prepared by direct oxidative addition of Mn* to the carbon-oxygen bonds of benzylic sulfonates and phosphates. The resulting benzylic manganese reagents were found to undergo cross-coupling reactions with a variety of electrophiles. The majority of these reactions were carried out in the absence of any transition metal catalyst under mild conditions. This approach also provided a facile synthetic route to the preparation of resorcinolic lipids.