Affiliation:
1. Tsinghua Institute of Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research Tsinghua University 100084 Beijing China
2. National Institute of Biological Sciences 102206 Beijing China
Abstract
AbstractDespite several methodologies established for C(sp2)−I selective C(sp2)−C(sp3) bond formations, achieving arene‐flanked quaternary carbons by cross‐coupling of tertiary alkyl precursors with bromo(iodo)arenes in a C(sp2)−I selective manner is rare. Here we report a general Ni‐catalyzed C(sp2)−I selective cross‐electrophile coupling (XEC) reaction, in which, beyond 3° alkyl bromides (for constructing arene‐flanked quaternary carbons), 2° and 1° alkyl bromides are also demonstrated to be viable coupling partners. Moreover, this mild XEC displays excellent C(sp2)−I selectivity and functional group compatibility. The practicality of this XEC is demonstrated in simplifying the routes to several medicinally relevant and synthetically challenging compounds. Extensive experiments show that the terpyridine‐ligated NiI halide can exclusively activate alkyl bromides, forming a NiI−alkyl complex through a Zn reduction. Attendant density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal two different pathways for the oxidative addition of the NiI−alkyl complex to the C(sp2)−I bond of bromo(iodo)arenes, explaining both the high C(sp2)−I selectivity and generality of our XEC.
Funder
Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China