Nickel-catalyzed dynamic kinetic cross-electrophile coupling of benzylic alcohols and alkenyl triflates

Abstract

The direct deoxy-functionalization of alcohols through cross-coupling is synthetically appealing but remains a challenging task. In this manuscript, we report a dynamic kinetic cross-electrophile coupling reaction between benzylic alcohols and alkenyl triflates. This mild reaction enables the replacement of the alcohol group with an alkenyl functionality, yielding versatile benzyl-substituted cyclic alkenes. The production of cyclic alkenes makes the method orthogonal to the existing reductive coupling methodologies, which are mainly effective in producing acyclic derivatives. Functional groups such as ester, phenol, indole, heterocycle, and boronic ester are tolerated.