Selective cleavage of unactivated arene ring C-C bonds by iridium: key roles of benzylic C-H activation and metal-metal cooperativity.

ABSTRACT: The cleavage of aromatic C-C bonds is central for conversion of fossil fuels into industrial chemicals and designing novel arene functionalisations through ring opening, expansion and contraction. However, the current progress is hampered by both the lack of experimental examples of selective oxidative addition of aromatic C-C bonds and limited understanding of the factors that favour insertion into the C-C rather than the C-H bonds. Here, we describe the comprehensive mechanism of the only reported chemo- and regioselective insertion of a transition metal into a range of substituted arene rings in simple iridium(i) complexes. The experimental and computational data reveal that this ring cleavage requires both reversible scission of a benzylic C-H bond and cooperativity of two Ir centres s

SUBMITTER: Tian Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8179494 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature