Advancing <i>Meta</i>-Selective C–H Amination through Non-Covalent Interactions
Qianqian Lv, Zongxing Hu, Yousong Zhang, Zhihan Zhang, Honghui Lei
Abstract
Regioselective C–H amination of simple arenes is highly desirable, but accessing meta-sites of ubiquitous arenes has proven challenging due to the lack of both electronic and spatial preference. This study demonstrates the successful use of various privileged nitrogen-containing functionalities found in pharmaceutical compounds to direct meta -C–H amination of arenes, overcoming the long-standing requirement for a redundant directing group. The remarkable advancements in functional group accommodation for precise regiochemical control were achieved through the discovery of an unprecedented organo-initiator and the strategic utilization of non-covalent interactions. This protocol has been successfully applied in the concise synthesis and late-stage derivatization of drug molecules, which would have been otherwise challenging to achieve.