Metal-free carbon-carbon bond-forming reductive coupling between boronic acids and tosylhydrazones

The formation of carbon-carbon bonds is a fundamental transformation in organic synthesis. In spite of the myriad methods available, advantageous methodologies in terms of selectivity, availability of starting materials, operational simplicity, functional-group tolerance, environmental sustainability and economy are in constant demand. In this context, the development of new cross-coupling reactions that use catalysts based on inexpensive and non-toxic metals is attracting increasing attention. Similarly, efficient processes that do not require a metal catalyst are of extraordinary interest. Here, we report a new and efficient metal-free carbon-carbon bond-forming coupling between tosylhydrazones and boronic acids. This reaction is very general and functional-group tolerant. As the required tosylhydrazones are easily generated from carbonyl compounds, it can be seen as a reductive coupling of carbonyls, a process of high synthetic relevance that requires several steps using other methodologies.