Reductive Alkylation of Alkenyl Acetates with Alkyl Bromides by Nickel Catalysis.

Catalytic alkylation of stable alkenyl C-O electrophiles is synthetically appealing, but studies to date have typically focused on the reactions with alkyl Grignard reagents. We report herein a cross-electrophile reaction of alkenyl acetates with alkyl bromides. This work has enabled a new method for the synthesis of aliphatic alkenes from alkenyl acetates to be established that can be used to add more structural complexity and molecular diversity with enhanced functionality tolerance. The method allows for a gram-scale reaction and modification of biologically active molecules, and it affords access to useful building blocks. Preliminary mechanistic studies reveal that the NiI species plays an essential role for the success of the coupling of these two reactivity-mismatched electrophiles.

Reductive Coupling between C-N and C-O Electrophiles.

The cross-electrophile reaction is a promising strategy for C-C bond formation. Recent studies have focused mainly on reactions with organic halides. Here we report a coupling reaction between C-N and C-O electrophiles that demonstrates the possibility of constructing a C-C bond via C-N and C-O cleavage. Several reactions between benzyl/aryl ammonium salts and vinyl/aryl C-O electrophiles have been studied. Preliminary mechanistic studies revealed that the benzyl ammoniums were activated through a radical mechanism.