The unifying theme of this thesis is the exploitation of the reactivity of aryliodonium salts as electrophile transfer reagents. In the first part of the thesis, diaryliodonium salts are employed as arylation reagents for the enantioselective copper-catalysed arylative semipinacol rearrangement (SPR) of various tertiary allylic alcohols. This cascade reaction is a rare example of asymmetrically activating SPR using carbon electrophiles. Different substrate classes - including dihydropyran, indene and dihydronaphthalene moieties - are converted to enantioenriched beta-aryl spirocyclic ketones in excellent yields and enantioselectivities, and often as a single diastereomer. These are in turn useful functional handles for transformations into other moieties, including further rearrangements via Baeyer-Villiger oxidation. In the second part of this thesis, a two-step process for the macrocyclisation of native peptides via a non-natural linkage is developed. This study exploits previous work conducted in the group on the use of aryliodonium salts as methionine-selective diazoacetate transfer reagents. The functionalised methionine is in turn used for an intramolecular rhodium-catalysed insertion into tryptophan. Eventual translation onto solid-phase enables facile access into various macrocyclic peptides.

Hypervalent iodine (HVI) reagents are easily accessed, highly tunable, mild, selective oxidants that are less toxic and more environmentally benign compared to their heavy metal counterparts. λ3-Iodanes, which possess an iodine center bound to one aryl substituent and two heteroatom ligands, have been the subject of recent interest due to their electrophilicity and hypernucleofugality. A central focus of the Wengryniuk laboratory has been the further development and application of a class of electrostatically activated (bis)cationic nitrogen-ligated HVI (N-HVI) reagents. N-HVIs feature datively bound heterocyclic ligands which results in dramatically enhanced electrophilicity and redox potentials. Despite being a highly tunable platform for reagent development, N-HVIs remain a relatively underexplored class of λ3-iodanes. This dissertation focuses on demonstrating N-HVI’s synthetic potential and developing novel variants to enhance their synthetic utility. Chapter 1 of this dissertation serves as a general background and introduction to nitrogen-ligated HVI reagents. Chapter 2 outlines our efforts in N-HVI library expansion, novel syntheses, and characterization. With a library of 33 novel N-HVIs in hand, ligand effects on N-HVI reactivity were analyzed via qualitative and quantitative methods. Chapter 3 describes our first synthetic application of N-HVIs in the development of novel oxidative rearrangements of simple and complex cyclic alcohols. This chapter describes the chemoselective ring expansion of 2° and 3° cyclic alcohols accessing medium-sized cyclic acetal products in good to excellent yields with applicability to Complexity-to-Diversity (CTD) efforts. Chapter 4 demonstrates our initial efforts toward the development of another synthetic method where the functionalized N-heterocyclic ligands of the N-HVIs can be regioselectivity incorporated into a molecule following N-HVI activation of an olefin. The pyridinium lactone salts formed from olefinic acids were isolated in excellent yields via simple trituration, supplying a synthetically useful functional handle that was easily derivatized via known methods. These four chapters summarize the current state of the research with nitrogen-ligated HVI salts, expand upon our initial publications to highlight the development of novel heterocyclic syntheses, and provide a useful guide to further explore the reactivity of these tunable reagents. / Chemistry

Le motif fluoropyridine est très fréquent dans les molécules d’intérêt thérapeutique et diagnostique pour l’imagerie par tomographie par émission de positons. Bien que les 3/5-[18F]fluoropyridines soient a priori plus stables in vivo que leurs analogues radiofluorés en position 2, 4 ou 6, leur radiosynthèse par voie nucléophile à partir du [18F]fluorure reste difficile et peu documentée. Dans ce contexte, les travaux ont porté sur l’étude du radiomarquage au fluor-18 de 3/5-fluoropyridines par radiofluoration de précurseurs iodoniums. Dans une première partie, la préparation d’une vingtaine de sels de iodonium possédant une structure pyridine ou pyridinium différemment substituée, a été mise au point. Une seconde partie a été dédiée à l’optimisation de la réaction de radiofluoration des sels de iodoniums. Cette étude a conduit à la mise en évidence du rôle important du TEMPO et de la base K2CO3 dans cette réaction. Enfin, la dernière partie a été consacrée à la radiosynthèse de 3/5-[18F]fluoropyridines portant des groupements carboxamides ou aminés par une approche multi-étape. L’ensemble des résultats ont montré que la radiofluoration de triflates de iodonium en présence de TEMPO était une méthode efficace, générale et robuste de radiosynthèse de 3/5-[18F]fluoropyridines. Cette méthode a été transposée avec succès sur deux automates de synthèse. / The fluoropyridinyl moieties have become of increasing importance in the development of drug candidates as well as of radiotracers for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging after radiolabeling with fluorine-18. Although 3/5-[18F]fluoropyridines are more stable in vivo than their 2,4 or 6 radiofluorinated analogues, their radiosynthesis by nucleophilic pathway from cyclotron produced [18F]fluoride remains difficult and poorly documented. In this context, the work focused on the development of a robust and general route to 3/5-[18F]fluoropyridines based on the radiofluorination of iodonium precursors. In a first part, the preparation of about twenty iodonium salts containing a pyridine or pyridinium scaffold, has been developed. A second part was devoted to the optimization of the radiofluorination reaction of iodonium salts. This study highlighted the important role of TEMPO and K2CO3 in this reaction. Finally, the last part was dedicated to the radiosynthesis of 3/5-[18F]fluoropyridines bearing carboxamide or amine groups according to a multistep approach. All the results showed that radiofluorination of iodonium triflates in the presence of TEMPO was an efficient, general and robust method for the radiosynthesis of 3/5-[18F]fluoropyridines. This method was also successfully transposed on two automated systems.