A three component 1,3-difunctionalization of vinyl diazo esters enabled by a cobalt catalyzed C–H activation/carbene migratory insertion

Abstract

We report herein, a modular, regioselective 1,3-oxyarylation of vinyl diazo esters via a Co-catalyzed C–H activation/carbene migratory insertion cascade. The transformation involves the formation of C–C and C–O bonds in a one-pot fashion and displays a broad substrate scope with respect to both, vinyl diazo esters as well as benzamides. The coupled products were subjected to hydrogenation to access elusive allyl alcohol scaffolds. Mechanistic investigations reveal interesting insights on the mode of transformation, involving C–H activation, carbene migratory insertion of the diazo compound followed by a radical addition as the key steps of the transformation.