Highly para‐Selective C−H Alkylation of Benzene Derivatives with 2,2,2‐Trifluoroethyl α‐Aryl‐α‐Diazoesters

• DOI: 10.1002/ange.201611809
• Publication Date: 2017-01-27T12:24:06Z
• Authors: Ben Ma; Zhaowei Chu; Ben Huang; Zhenli Liu; Lu Liu; Junliang Zhang
• Keywords: Surface Modification

Abstract Compared to the most popular directing‐group‐assisted strategy, “undirected” strategy for C−H bond functionalization represents a more flexible but challenging approach. Reported herein is gold‐catalyzed highly site‐selective C(sp 2 )−H alkylation of unactivated arenes with 2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl α‐aryl‐α‐diazoesters. This protocol demonstrates that high can be achieved without assistance directing group. In this transformation, both gold catalyst and trifluoroethyl group on ester diazo compound play vital roles achieving chemo‐ regioselectivity.