1,1-Diaryl methanes are important pharmacophores in many pharmaceuticals, including anti-breast cancer treatments such as tamoxifen and letrozole. We report here the synthesis of 1,1-diaryl methanes by a microwave-assisted gold(I)-catalyzed Friedel–Crafts-like arylation of benzylic alcohols. Gold(I) salts are traditionally thought as carbophilic, soft Lewis acids where carbon-carbon double and triple bonds can preferentially be activated in the presence of unprotected, Lewis-basic moieties such as alcohols and amines. However, our reaction methodology supports the growing literature of gold(I) having similar catalytic activity as the hydronium ion, a hard acid. The arylation reactions are accomplished under microwave conditions in 90 minutes at 50 <sup>o</sup>C. Full details of catalyst loading investigations will be discussed, and substrate scope explorations will be presented.

Microwave-assisted gold(I)-catalyzed Friedel-Crafts-like arylation of benzylic alcohols to afford 1,1-diarylmethanes

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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