Cobalt-Catalyzed Asymmetric Remote Borylation of Alkyl Halides

Enantioselective functionalization of racemic alkyl halides is an efficient strategy to assemble complex chiral molecules, but remains one of the biggest challenges in organic chemistry. The distant and selective activation of unreactive C-H bonds in alkyl halides has received growing interest as it enables rapid generation of molecular complexity from simple building blocks. Here, we reported a cobalt-catalyzed remote borylation of alkyl (pseudo)halides (alkyl-X, X=I, Br, Cl, OTs) with pinacolborane (HBpin) and presented a robust approach for the generation of valuable chiral secondary organoboronates from racemic alkyl halides. This migration borylation reaction is compatible with primary, secondary, and tertiary bromides, offering direct access to a broad range of alkylboronates. The extension of this catalytic system to the borylation of aryl halides was also demonstrated. Preliminary mechanistic studies revealed that this remote borylation involved a radical reaction pathway.