Iodination of vanillin and subsequent Suzuki-Miyaura coupling: two-step synthetic sequence teaching green chemistry principles

ABSTRACT A two-step synthetic sequence was developed for the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory using vanillin as the starting material. The multi-step synthesis was designed to replace two traditional experiments teaching electrophilic aromatic substitution and carbon–carbon bond forming chemistries with greener transformations. Vanillin is iodinated using Oxone？ and potassium iodide in refluxing water, and students are tasked with determining the position of aromatic substitution using 1H NMR spectroscopy. The tan, shiny, pleasant-smelling iodovanillin is subsequently used in an aqueous Suzuki-Miyaura reaction with para-methylphenylboronic acid; strategically chosen to afford a second instructive 1H NMR spectrum. Both conventional heating and microwave conditions can be employed for the palladium-catalyzed reaction. This synthetic sequence, successfully performed over multiple semesters by hundreds of students, models green chemistry principles through the use of a potentially renewable feedstock and safer reagents, the choice of water as a safer reaction solvent, and the employment of a catalytic reaction. Additionally, the sequence minimizes waste in teaching labs through use of an intermediate product. GRAPHICAL ABSTRAC