A General and Practical Palladium-Catalyzed Direct α-Arylation of Amides with Aryl Halides

Chemoselective intermolecular α-arylation of amides

A new approach for the fully chemoselective α-arylation of amides is presented. By means of electrophilic amide activation, aryl groups can be regioselectively introduced α- to amides, even in the presence of esters and alkyl ketones. Mechanistic studies reveal key reaction intermediates and emphasize a remarkably subtle base effect in this transformation.

Palladium-catalyzed α-arylation of benzylic phosphonates

A new synthetic route to access diarylmethyl phosphonates is presented. The transformation enables the introduction of aromatic groups on benzylic phosphonates via a deprotonative cross-coupling process (DCCP). The Pd(OAc)2/CataCXium A-based catalyst afforded a reaction between benzyl diisopropyl phosphonate derivatives and aryl bromides in good to excellent isolated yields (64-92%).