title: Regioselective acceptorless dehydrogenative coupling of N-heterocycles toward functionalized quinolines, phenanthrolines, and indoles.
abstract: A new strategy has been developed for the oxidant- and base-free dehydrogenative coupling of N-heterocycles at mild conditions. Under the action of an iridium catalyst, N-heterocycles undergo multiple sp(3) CH activation steps, generating a nucleophilic enamine that reacts in situ with various electrophiles to give highly functionalized products. The dehydrogenative coupling can be cascaded with Friedel-Crafts addition, resulting in a double functionalization of the N-heterocycles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZD (UK) http://pcwww.liv.ac.uk/∼xiao.
authors.forename: Dinesh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Talwar
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-de-Castro
authors.forename: Ho Yin
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jianliang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiao
keywords: CC coupling; CH functionalization; N-heterocycles; dehydrogenation; iridium complexes