Pan Xie

Palladium-Catalyzed Oxidative Carbonylation of Benzylic C–H Bonds via Nondirected C(sp3)–H Activation

A new strategy for generating benzylpalladium reactive species from toluenes via nondirected C(sp(3))-H activation has been developed. This led to construction of an efficient Pd-catalyzed reaction protocol for the oxidative carboxylation of benzylic C-H bonds to form substituted 2-phenylacetic acid esters and derivatives from inexpensive, commercially available starting materials.

Iron-catalyzed direct alkenylation of 2-substituted azaarenes with N-sulfonyl aldimines via C-H bond activation.

A novel iron-catalyzed alkenylation of 2-substituted azaarenes through sp(3) C-H bond activation has been developed. A favorable E2-elimination is proposed as a key step to cleavage of C-H and C-N bonds for the construction of a C═C bond in high stereoselectivity. This transformation represents an efficient way to synthesize 2-alkenylated azaarenes from simple starting materials.

Palladium-catalyzed oxidative aminocarbonylation: a new entry to amides via C-H activation.

A novel palladium-catalyzed oxidative aminocarbonylation reaction via C(sp(3))-H activation was established, which provides a convenient and general method for the construction of arylacetamides via the carbonylation reaction of alkyl aromatics and amines. By using this protocol, the marketed drug ibuprofen could be easily obtained.

Palladium-Catalyzed Difunctionalization of Enol Ethers to Amino Acetals with Aminals and Alcohols

A new strategy was developed for intercepting the palladium-alkyl species generated in Heck reaction via nucleophilic addition prior to the step of migratory insertion, which leads to a new palladium-catalyzed difunctionalization of enol ethers with aminals and alcohols to afford amino acetals. Mechanistic studies suggested that the cationic cyclometalated Pd(II) complex generated by the oxidative addition of aminal to a Pd(0) species was crucial for this unusual transformation.