Studies of Palladium Catalyzed Functionalization of Indoles, Synthesis of Piperazines and Rhodium Catalyzed Binol Arylation

The synthesis and functionalization of basic heterocyclic compounds remains an important field in organic chemistry. Through the use of a palladium catalyst both indoles and oxindoles were combined with ally, benzyl and propargyl carbonates to generate new heterocycles in good yield. Propargyl carbonates could also be combined with diamines in the presence of a palladium catalyst to generate piperazines and other related heterocylces. The use of rhodium was explored for the ortho functionalization of binaphthols and novel asymmetric hydrogen bonding catalysts were synthesized and tested with a number of different transformations.