Palladium-catalysed α and β C–H allylation of aryl alkenes

Abstract

Remarkable progress has been made on chelation-assisted α and β C–H functionalization of aryl alkenes; however, there is no report on C–H allylation reactions. This work focuses on the first α and β C–H allylation of aryl alkenes using allyl carbonates to produce linear and branched 1,4-dienes enabled by chelation-assistance of pyridine-2-carboxamide, simply performed with Pd(OAc)₂/AcOH in ethanol. This operationally simple protocol exhibited wide functionality tolerance and broad substrate scope and enabled successful gram-scaled preparation.