Direct synthesis of 6-arylpurines by reaction of 6-chloropurines with activated aromatics.

Highly functionalized C6-aryl-substituted purine analogues were synthesized through direct arylation of 6-chloropurine with aromatics promoted by anhydrous AlCl(3) in a single step. The reactions, which were conducted using a 3-fold excess of AlCl(3) in refluxing 1,2-dichloroethane, gave moderate to excellent product yields in 0.5 h. This work is complementary to the classical coupling reactions for the synthesis of C6-aryl-substituted purine analogues.