Silver-catalyzed synthesis of symmetrical diaryl tellurides from arylboronic acids and tellurium

We report herein the synthesis of symmetrical tellurides by the reaction of different arylboronic acids with elemental tellurium through a simple methodology using a silver catalyst. In contrast to other methodologies described in the literature, this protocol takes advantage of using Te-0 for the synthesis of tellurides, skipping the preparation steps of organotellurium compounds as intermediates. The developed method was tolerant to a series of arylboronic acids, obtaining a wide reaction scope using 10 mol% of AgNO3 as a catalyst, DMSO as a solvent and three equivalents of Te-0. Tellurides with electron withdrawing and electron donating groups attached to the aryl group at the ortho, meta and para positions were achieved, allowing the study of the influence of these groups at each position. Control experiments were carried out to subsidize a plausible proposed mechanism.

Automated summary

In this study, symmetrical tellurides were synthesized by reacting different arylboronic acids with elemental tellurium using a simple methodology with a silver catalyst. Unlike other reported methods, this protocol skips the preparation steps of organotellurium compounds as intermediates and utilizes Te-0 for the synthesis of tellurides. The developed method showed tolerance towards various arylboronic acids, allowing the synthesis of tellurides with different electron withdrawing and donating groups attached to the aryl group at different positions, providing insight into the influence of these groups on the reaction.