Efficient preparation of 2-azulenylboronate and Miyaura-Suzuki cross-coupling reaction with aryl bromides for easy access to poly(2-azulenyl)benzenes

This paper describes an efficient preparation of 2-azulenylboronate (6) starting from 2-iodoazulene by halogen-metal exchange reaction using n-BuLi and subsequent quenching with 2-isopropoxy-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolane. The boronate 6 has been found to undergo Pd-catalyzed Miyaura-Suzuki cross-coupling reaction with a range of aryl bromides including aromatic poly bromides utilizing Pd-2(dba)(3)-P(t-Bu)(3) as a catalyst and establishes a strategy to produce novel poly(2-azulenyl)benzenes, some of which are found to be insoluble in common organic solvents, however. The redox behavior of 2-arylazulenes and poly(2-azulenyl)benzenes was examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and compared with those of 6-azulenylbenzene derivatives reported previously. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.