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Updated: Jun 23, 2025
A Microwave-Assisted Direct Heteroarylation of Ketones Using Transition Metal Catalysis
Published on: February 16, 2020
Copper-Catalyzed Borrowing Hydrogen Reaction for α-Alkylation of Amides with Alcohols
Qiuling Xia1,2, Yulong Miao2, Yue Hu2
1Zhejiang Engineering Research Center of Advanced Mass Spectrometry and Clinical Application, Institute of Mass Spectrometry, School of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, P. R. China.
Abstract:
We report the first example of copper-catalyzed α-alkylation of acetamides with alcohols via a borrowing hydrogen strategy. Catalyzed by the in situ-generated copper particles, acetamides and various substituted benzyl or alkyl alcohols were transformed into functionalized amides in good yields with excellent selectivity. Compared with previous work, this process is simple using commercially available Cu(OAc)2 as a precatalyst, without an additional ligand or a metal complex, and easier. Mechanistic studies revealed that aldehyde and α,β-unsaturated amides were the intermediates of this reaction and also disclosed the role of copper in alcohol dehydrogenation and C═C bond hydrogenation.
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