Chemoselective C-Benzylation of Unprotected Anilines with Benzyl Alcohols Using Re₂O₇ Catalyst

Abstract

An unprecedented dehydrative C-C bond formation between unprotected anilines with benzyl alcohols is disclosed. Re2O7 catalyst (5 mol %) at elevated reaction temperature (80 °C) provided C-benzylanilines with high to excellent yields and with good chemoselectivities (over N-alkylation). A probable mechanism has been proposed based on mechanistic studies.