Tertiary Amides as Directing Groups for Enantioselective C-H Amination using Ion-Paired Rhodium Complexes

Enantioselective C-H amination at a benzylic methylene is a vital disconnection towards chiral benzylamines. Here we disclose that butyric and valeric acid-derived tertiary amides can undergo highly enantioselective benzylic amination using an achiral anionic Rh complex that is ion-paired with a Cinchona alkaloid-derived chiral cation. A broad scope of compounds can be aminated encompassing numerous arene substitutions, amides, and two different chain lengths. Excellent tolerance of ortho substituents was observed, which has not been achieved before in asymmetric intermolecular C-H amination with Rh. We speculate that the tertiary amide group of the substrate engages in hydrogen bonding interactions directly with the chiral cation, enabling a high level of organisation at the transition state for C-H amination. This is in contrast with our previous work where a substrate bearing a hydrogen bond donor was required. Control experiments led to the discovery that methyl ethers also function as proficient directing groups under the optimised conditions, potentially also acting as hydrogen bond acceptors. This finding has the promise to dramatically expand the applicability of our ion-paired chiral catalysts.