Nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions under aqueous, mild conditions using polymeric additive HPMC

The use of the inexpensive, benign, and sustainable polymer, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), in water enables nucleophilic aromatic subsitution (S N Ar) reactions between various nucleophiles and electrophiles. The mild reaction conditions facilitate a broad functional group tolerance that can be utilized for subsequent derivatization for the synthesis of pharmaceutically relevant building blocks. The use of only equimolar amounts of all reagents and water as reaction solvent reveals the greenness and sustainability of the methodology presented herein. A general, efficient, and sustainable method for nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions in water using a cellulose-based additive was developed.