Rh/Cu-Catalyzed Ketone β-Functionalization by Merging Ketone Dehydrogenation and Carboxyl-Directed C–H Alkylation

Abstract

An efficient Rh/Cu-catalyzed method has been developed for the direct β-arylation or alkenylation of ketones using (hetero)aryl or alkenyl carboxylic acids as coupling partners. This direct ketone β-functionalization reaction proceeded via the merging of Cu-catalyzed ketone dehydrogenative desaturation and Rh-catalyzed carboxyl-directed C–H alkylation, exhibiting a broad substrate scope for both coupling partners. TEMPO proved to be essential for both dehydrogenation process and generation of the active Rh catalyst for C–H activation.