10.1002/anie.201411726
The research focuses on the development of a copper(I)-catalyzed oxidative C-H bond functionalization and ring expansion method using trimethylsilyldiazomethane (TMSCHN2) to synthesize tricyclic dibenzoxepines and dibenzazepines, which are significant therapeutic agents in the pharmaceutical industry. The purpose of this study was to address the lack of simple, mild, and direct synthetic methods for these heterocycles, which traditionally require multistep processes involving harsh conditions. The researchers successfully developed a straightforward approach that yields these important derivatives with high selectivity, using a copper-catalyzed process with TMSCHN2 as the key reagent, along with other chemicals such as Cu(OTf)2, bpy (2,2'-bipyridine), and (PhCO2)2 (diphenyl peroxide). The conclusions of the study highlight the efficiency of this new method in producing tricyclic dibenzoxepines and dibenzazepines, which are crucial for modulating biological activity, and demonstrate the synthetic applicability of the method through the derivatization of the synthesized compounds into biologically active products.