The pursuit of an expedient route to a proprietary agrochemical intermediate based on chemoselective metal-catalyzed alpha arylation

工业化规模的农用化学品生产要求目标化合物以高效、经济、可持续的方式合成。拟议中的研究项目旨在解决工业合作伙伴拜耳作物科学公司（Bayer AG Crop Science）正在开发的一种专有农用化学品的合成步骤中存在的问题。我们设想使用金属催化剂可以使反应分子中的碳原子之间形成键，从而在称为金属催化芳基化交叉偶联的过程中提高合成步骤的效率。考虑到期望的反应提出了许多挑战，包括与化学选择性和官能团耐受性相关的问题，需要对反应条件和随后的优化进行广泛的调查。申请人在可持续金属催化交叉偶联协议的开发方面具有成熟的专业知识，包括α芳基化化学，并且非常适合解决该化学问题。在这个合作项目中开发的合成方案将由拜耳集团作物科学的过程科学家直接开发，包括关于扩大规模的研究。拜耳加拿大作物科学公司正在加拿大西部的一系列农业应用中测试这类拟议项目中调查的农用化学品，其最终目标是建立更可持续的农业实践和自然资源利用，以造福所有加拿大人。

The production of agrochemicals on industrial scales requires that the target compound be synthesized in an efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable manner. The proposed research project seeks to address a problematic synthetic step in the making of a proprietary agrochemical under development by the industrial partner, Bayer AG Crop Science. We envision that the use of a metal catalyst may render this synthetic step more efficient, by enabling the formation of a bond between carbon atoms in the reacting molecules in a process called metal-catalyzed alpha arylation cross-coupling. Given that the desired reaction of interest presents a number of challenges, including issues related to chemoselectivity and functional group tolerance, a broad survey of reaction conditions and subsequent optimization will be required. The applicant has well-established expertise in the development of sustainable metal-catalyzed cross-coupling protocols, including in alpha arylation chemistry, and is well-suited to addressing this chemistry. Synthetic protocols developed in the course of this collaborative project will be exploited directly by process scientists at Bayer AG Crop Science, including examination regarding up-scaling. Agrochemicals of the type under investigation in this proposed project are undergoing testing by Bayer Crop Science Canada in a range of farming applications in western Canada, with the ultimate goal of establishing more sustainable agriculture practices and natural resources usage, to the benefit of all Canadians.