Catalyst-Directed Chemoselective Double Amination of Bromo-chloro(hetero)arenes: A Synthetic Route toward Advanced Amino-aniline Intermediates.

A chemoselective sequential one-pot coupling protocol was developed for preparing several amino-anilines in high yield as building blocks for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Site (Cl vs Br on electrophile) and nucleophile (amine vs imine) selectivity is dictated by the catalyst employed. A Pd-crotyl (t-BuXPhos) precatalyst selectively coupled the Ar-Br of the polyhaloarene with benzophenone imine, even in the presence of a secondary amine, while Pd-based RuPhos or (BINAP)Pd(allyl)Cl coupled the Ar-Cl site with secondary amines.