General Allylic C–H Alkylation with Tertiary Nucleophiles

A general method for intermolecular allylic C–H alkylation of terminal olefins with tertiary nucleophiles has been accomplished employing palladium­(II)/bis­(sulfoxide) catalysis. Allylic C–H alkylation furnishes products in good yields (avg. 64%) with excellent regio- and stereoselectivity (>20:1 linear:branched, >20:1 E:Z). For the first time, the olefin scope encompasses unactivated aliphatic olefins as well as activated aromatic/heteroaromatic olefins and 1,4-dienes. The ease of appending allyl moieties onto complex scaffolds is leveraged to enable this mild and selective allylic C–H alkylation to rapidly diversify phenolic natural products. The tertiary nucleophile scope is broad and includes latent functionality for further elaboration (e.g., aliphatic alcohols, α,β-unsaturated esters). The opportunities to effect synthetic streamlining with such general C–H reactivity are illustrated in an allylic C–H alkylation/Diels–Alder reaction cascade: a reactive diene is generated via intermolecular allylic C–H alkylation and approximated to a dienophile contained within the tertiary nucleophile to furnish a common tricyclic core found in the class I galbulimima alkaloids.