85522-98-1Relevant academic research and scientific papers
Efficient α-Alkylation of Arylacetonitriles with Secondary Alcohols Catalyzed by a Phosphine-Free Air-Stable Iridium(III) Complex
Panda, Surajit,Saha, Ratnakar,Sethi, Subrat,Ghosh, Rahul,Bagh, Bidraha
, p. 15610 - 15621 (2020)
A well-defined and readily available air-stable dimeric iridium(III) complex catalyzed α-alkylation of arylacetonitriles using secondary alcohols with the liberation of water as the only byproduct is reported. The α-alkylations were efficiently performed at 120 °C under solvent-free conditions with very low (0.1-0.01 mol %) catalyst loading. Various secondary alcohols including cyclic and acyclic alcohols and a wide variety of arylacetonitriles bearing different functional groups were converted into the corresponding α-alkylated products in good yields. Mechanistic study revealed that the reaction proceeds via alcohol activation by metal-ligand cooperation with the formation of reactive iridium-hydride species.
