Intermolecular Enantioselective Nickel‐Catalyzed Arylation of Un‐Activated C(sp <sup>3</sup> )─H Bond
We report the first example of an intermolecular, enantioselective Ni(II)-catalyzed C(sp<sup>3</sup>)─H arylation, providing direct access to challenging all-carbon quaternary stereogenic centers. Key to this success is the use of a specially designed BINOL-derived ligand, which enables efficient desymmetrization of gem-dimethyl groups through a rate- and enantio-determining C─H activation step. This catalytic system demonstrates remarkable functional group tolerance, affording a wide variety of arylated products in high yields (up to 85%) and with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 95:5 e.r.). Mechanistic studies, combining kinetic isotope effect measurements, deuterium labeling, and DFT calculations, reveal that the Ni-BINOL complex promotes a unique concerted metalation-deprotonation pathway assisted by ligand coordination and π-π interactions. This work establishes nickel as a powerful and sustainable alternative to precious metals for asymmetric C─H activation, opening new perspectives for the construction of enantioenriched quaternary carbon centers of high relevance in drug discovery and materials science.
Authors
- Erwan Brunard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5896-0157)
- Sofiya Kostiukovska
- Fengjie Huang
- Joanna Wencel‐Delord
- Àlex Díaz‐Jiménez
Institutions
- University of Würzburg (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2026-01-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202523241
- Primary Topic
- Catalytic C–H Functionalization Methods
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- European Commission