Abstract
Cross-coupling reactions enable rapid, convergent synthesis of diverse molecules and provide the foundation for modern chemical synthesis. The most widely used methods employ sp2-hybridized coupling partners, such as aryl halides or related pre-functionalized substrates. Here, we demonstrate copper-catalysed oxidative cross-coupling of benzylic C–H bonds with alcohols to afford benzyl ethers, enabled by a redox buffering strategy that maintains the activity of the copper catalyst throughout the reaction. The reactions employ the C–H substrate as the limiting reagent and exhibit broad scope with respect to both coupling partners. This approach to direct site-selective functionalization of C(sp3)–H bonds provides the basis for efficient three-dimensional diversification of organic molecules and should find widespread utility in organic synthesis, particularly for medicinal chemistry applications.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 358-367 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Nature Catalysis |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 1 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.