Rhodium(III)-Catalyzed Coupling of Arenes with Cyclopropanols via C–H Activation and Ring Opening

Rhodium-catalyzed C–H activation
of arenes has been established
as an important strategy for the rapid construction of new bonds.
On the other hand, ring-opening of readily available cyclopropanols
has served as a driving force for the coupling with various nucleophiles
and electrophiles. Nevertheless, these two important areas evolved
separately, and coupling of arenes with cyclopropanols via C–H
activation has been rarely explored. In this work, the oxidative coupling
between arenes and cyclopropanols has been realized with high efficiency
and selectivity under Rh­(III)-catalysis, providing an efficient route
to access β-aryl ketones. Moreover, the C–H bond has
been extended to benzylic C–H bonds.

铑催化的芳烃碳氢键活化，已被确立为快速构建新型化学键的重要策略。另一方面，易得的环丙醇开环反应，可作为与各类亲核试剂、亲电试剂发生偶联的驱动力。然而，这两个重要研究领域此前各自独立发展，而通过碳氢键活化实现芳烃与环丙醇的偶联反应却极少被探索。本工作中，我们在三价铑（Rh(III)）催化下，高效且高选择性地实现了芳烃与环丙醇之间的氧化偶联，为合成β-芳基酮提供了一条高效路径。此外，该反应的适配碳氢键底物范围拓展至苄基碳氢键。