A deciduous directing group approach for the addition of aryl and vinyl nucleophiles to maleimides†
Abstract
A Rh(III)-catalyzed C–H activation followed by conjugate addition to maleimides, using carboxylic acid as a traceless/deciduous directing group, to formally furnish a Csp2–Csp3 bond is presented. For the first time, derivatives of acrylic acid have been shown as surrogates for the unstable and expensive alkenyl boronic acids.