Direct and selective arylation of tertiary silanes with rhodium catalyst

We have developed a convenient and efficient approach to the arylation of tertiary silanes under mild conditions. A variety of arylsilanes were synthesized in a one-step process with good to excellent yields in the presence of a rhodium catalyst with a base. The reaction was highly solvent dependent, and amides were the most effective of the various solvents used. This common catalyst system is highly tolerant of the various sensitive functional groups on the substrates, which might be difficult to extract by other methods. The rhodium-promoted silylation of aryl halides with electron-donating groups occurred more efficiently than the silylation of aryl halides substituted with electron-withdrawing groups. Heteroaromatic halides were also found to be readily silylated with tertiary silanes. The successful application of this reaction to the synthesis of a TAC-101 analogue, which is a trialkylsilyl-containing synthetic retinoid benzoic acid derivative with selective binding affinity for retinoic acid receptor-alpha, is also described.