C–H activation has surfaced as an increasingly powerful tool for molecular sciences, with notable applications to material sciences, crop protection, drug discovery, and pharmaceutical industries, among others. Despite major advances, the vast majority of these C–H functionalizations required precious 4d or 5d transition metal catalysts. Given the cost-effective and sustainable nature of earth-abundant first row transition metals, the development of less toxic, inexpensive 3d metal catalysts for C–H activation has gained considerable recent momentum as a significantly more environmentally-benign and economically-attractive alternative. Herein, we provide a comprehensive overview on first row transition metal catalysts for C–H activation until summer 2018.

3d Transition Metals for C-H Activation.

To improve the atom- and step-economy of organic syntheses, researchers would like to capitalize upon the chemistry of otherwise inert carbon–hydrogen (C–H) bonds. During the past decade, remarkable progress in organometallic chemistry has set the stage for the development of increasingly viable metal catalysts for C–H bond activation reactions. Among these methods, oxidative C–H bond functionalizations are particularly attractive because they avoid the use of prefunctionalized starting materials. For example, oxidative annulations that involve sequential C–H and heteroatom–H bond cleavages allow for the modular assembly of regioselectively decorated heterocycles. These structures serve as key scaffolds for natural products, functional materials, crop protecting agents, and drugs. While other researchers have devised rhodium or palladium complexes for oxidative alkyne annulations, my laboratory has focused on the application of significantly less expensive, yet highly selective ruthenium complexes.This Ac...

Carboxylate-assisted ruthenium-catalyzed alkyne annulations by C-H/Het-H bond functionalizations.

Transition metal-catalyzed direct functionalization of C–H bonds is one of the key emerging strategies that is currently attracting tremendous attention with the aim to provide alternative environmentally friendly and efficient ways for the construction of C–C and C–hetero bonds. In particular, the strategy involving regioselective C–H activation assisted by various functional groups shows high potential, and significant achievements have been made in both the development of novel reactions and the mechanistic study. In this review, we attempt to give an overview of the development of utilizing the functionalities as directing groups. The discussion is directed towards the use of different functional groups as directing groups for the construction of C–C and C–hetero bonds via C–H activation using various transition metal catalysts. The synthetic applications and mechanistic features of these transformations will be discussed, and the review is organized on the basis of the type of directing groups and the type of bond being formed or the catalyst.

Transition metal-catalyzed C–H bond functionalizations by the use of diverse directing groups

The present review is devoted to summarizing the recent advances (2015-2017) in the field of metal-catalysed group-directed C-H functionalisation In order to clearly showcase the molecular diversity that can now be accessed by means of directed C-H functionalisation, the whole is organized following the directing groups installed on a substrate Its aim is to be a comprehensive reference work, where a specific directing group can be easily found, together with the transformations which have been carried out with it Hence, the primary format of this review is schemes accompanied with a concise explanatory text, in which the directing groups are ordered in sections according to their chemical structure The schemes feature typical substrates used, the products obtained as well as the required reaction conditions Importantly, each example is commented on with respect to the most important positive features and drawbacks, on aspects such as selectivity, substrate scope, reaction conditions, directing group removal, and greenness The targeted readership are both experts in the field of C-H functionalisation chemistry (to provide a comprehensive overview of the progress made in the last years) and, even more so, all organic chemists who want to introduce the C-H functionalisation way of thinking for a design of straightforward, efficient and step-economic synthetic routes towards molecules of interest to them Accordingly, this review should be of particular interest also for scientists from industrial R&D sector Hence, the overall goal of this review is to promote the application of C-H functionalisation reactions outside the research groups dedicated to method development and establishing it as a valuable reaction archetype in contemporary R&D, comparable to the role cross-coupling reactions play to date

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A comprehensive overview of directing groups applied in metal-catalysed C-H functionalisation chemistry.

Catalytic C–H activation has emerged as a powerful tool for sustainable syntheses. In the recent years, notable success was achieved with the development of cobalt-catalyzed C–H functionalizations with either in situ generated or single-component cobalt-complexes under mild reaction conditions. Herein, recent progress in the field of organometallic cobalt-catalyzed C–H activation is reviewed until November 2015.

Cobalt-Catalyzed C―H Activation

The transition metal-catalyzed transformation of otherwise inert C–H bonds into substituted alkenes offers a versatile tool for the synthesis of value added olefinic molecules. Recent developments in the directing group assisted C–H activation approach ensured high levels of positional selectivity. A vast number of coordinating groups have been utilized in directed C–H alkenylation, which are often not removable after the desired transformation. However, the concept of easily removable or traceless directing group strategy overcomes this limitation and enables site-selective C–H alkenylation of relevance to academia and the practitioners in industry. Various easily removable or transformable directing groups utilized in the transition metal-catalyzed oxidative C–H alkenylations are discussed in this review until February 2017.

Recent advances in positional-selective alkenylations: removable guidance for twofold C–H activation

Twofold C-H functionalization of aromatic sulfonic acids was achieved with an in situ generated ruthenium(II) catalyst. The optimized cross-dehydrogenative alkenylation protocol proved applicable to differently substituted arenes and a variety of alkenes, including vinyl arenes, sulfones, nitriles and ketones. The robustness of the ruthenium(II) catalyst was demonstrated by the chemoselective oxidative olefination of sulfonamides as well as sulfonyl chlorides. Mechanistic studies provided support for a reversible, acetate-assisted C-H ruthenation, along with a subsequent olefin insertion.

Ruthenium(II)-catalyzed oxidative C-H alkenylations of sulfonic acids, sulfonyl chlorides and sulfonamides.

Isoindolinone derivatives were prepared in a step-economical fashion by a C–H/N–H functionalization process with a catalytic system composed of Co(OAc)2 and Mn(OAc)2 or AgOPiv. The oxidative annulation by benzamides occurred efficiently with differently substituted electron-deficient alkenes. Mechanistic studies were indicative of a kinetically relevant, carboxylate-assisted C–H cobaltation.

Cobalt(II)-Catalyzed Oxidative C–H Alkenylations: Regio- and Site-Selective Access to Isoindolin-1-one

Oxidative Alkenylation of Aromatic Esters by Ruthenium-Catalyzed Twofold C–H Bond Cleavages

Cationic ruthenium(II) complexes enabled oxidative alkenylations of phenols bearing easily cleavable directing groups. The optimized catalytic system allowed twofold CH bond activations with excellent chemo-, site-, and diastereoselectivities. The double CH functionalization process proceeded efficiently in an aerobic fashion under an atmosphere of ambient air. Detailed mechanistic studies were performed and provided strong support for an initial reversible CH bond activation by the formation of six-membered ruthenacycles as the key intermediates.

Wenbo Ma

Papers

Recent advances in positional-selective alkenylations: removable guidance for twofold C–H activation

Ruthenium(II)-catalyzed oxidative C-H alkenylations of sulfonic acids, sulfonyl chlorides and sulfonamides.

Cobalt(II)-Catalyzed Oxidative C–H Alkenylations: Regio- and Site-Selective Access to Isoindolin-1-one

Oxidative Alkenylation of Aromatic Esters by Ruthenium-Catalyzed Twofold C–H Bond Cleavages

Ruthenium(II)-catalyzed C-H alkenylations of phenols with removable directing groups.