Chirooptical 2,2'-Dimethoxybiphenyl Crystals Generated From Suzuki-Miyaura Coupling Reaction Catalyzed by Pd-Loaded Chiral Silica.

In this work, we report a one-pot approach that combines crystal ripening with the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction. We investigated the reaction between 2-methoxyphenyl bromide and 2-methoxyphenylboronic acid, catalyzed by a series of Pd-loaded chiral optical ((D)- or (L)-) and racemic ((DL)-) silica/polyethyleneimine (PEI) systems, which produced crystalline 2,2'-dimethoxybiphenyl (DMB). The silica used as a catalyst was prepared using our previously established method, in which chirality was imparted to the silica through catalytic templates composed of polyethyleneimine (PEI) and tartaric acid. Both enantiopure ((D)- or (L)-; 100% ee) and racemic ((DL)-; 0% ee) tartaric acid-mediated silica, after tartaric acid removal and palladium (Pd) loading, exhibited similar catalytic activities, leading to the quantitative precipitation of 2,2'-dimethoxybiphenyl in a water/ethanol (1:1 by volume) medium. Interestingly, the 2,2'-dimethoxybiphenyl crystals formed and ripened in the presence of Pd-loaded chiral (D)- and (L)-silica/PEI exhibited octahedral morphology and displayed remarkable chiroptical activity with a mirror-image relationship. This represents a novel example of using chiral Pd-loaded silica to synthesize axially chiral biphenyl in crystalline form.