title: Transition-Metal-Catalyzed Direct Addition of Aryl C-H Bonds to Unsaturated Electrophiles.
abstract: The direct addition of Csp(2) -H bonds onto polar C=C, C=O, and C=N bonds is both synthetically and mechanistically important, because using aromatic C-H substrates in place of organometallic reagents provides a more direct and atom-economical alternative to many important compounds without the pre-generation of organometallic compounds from stoichiometric halides and the unavoidable generation of stoichiometric metal halide waste. In this account, we summarize our contributions to the transition-metal-catalyzed addition of aromatic C-H bonds to polar C=C, C=O, and C=N bonds via directing-group-assisted regiospecific reactions. These synthetic methods provide efficient access to benzylic alcohols, alkylbenzenes, 3-substituted phthalides, N-substituted phthalimides, N-aryl benzamides, and indene derivatives from commercially available reagents. It is worth noting that valuable heterocycles such as 3-substituted phthalides and N-substituted phthalimides can be obtained in one step by this approach.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Macromolecular Science of Shaanxi Province, Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry (Ministry of Education).
authors.forename: Xian-Ying
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Macromolecular Science of Shaanxi Province, Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry (Ministry of Education).
authors.forename: Wen-Jing
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, McGill University, 801 Sherbooke Street W. Montreal, Quebec, H3A 0B8, Canada.
authors.forename: Chao-Jun
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Li
keywords: 1,2-addition; C-H activation; conjugate addition; homogeneous catalysis; tandem reactions