Copper-Catalyzed Oxidative Cross-Coupling of N,N-Dimethylanilines with Heteroarenes under Molecular Oxygen

Nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds are important motifs of pharmaceuticals and functional materials, and there has been a growing interest in new synthetic methods for their preparation. In this paper, we report a direct cross-coupling reaction of heteroarenes with N,N-dimethylanilines in the presence of copper catalyst. Oxygen and/or air are successfully used as the oxidant, which is of great importance to the industrialized economies. The reaction is compatible with a wide range of heterocycles, including indolizines, imidazoles, indoles, and aniline, to enable the formation of various alkylated heteroarenes under very mild reaction conditions.