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Chromium-Catalyzed Direct Conversion of Ethers to Aryl-Substituted Alkenes
1Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry & Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
None:
We report a Cr-catalyzed strategy that enables the direct transformation of ethers into aryl-substituted alkenes via a radical-organometallic crossover pathway. This protocol furnishes aryl-substituted homoallylic alcohols with high regioselectivity when tetrahydrofuran is used, while acyclic ethers undergo selective C-H/C-O bond activation to afford styrene derivatives. Mechanistic studies, including radical trapping and deuterium labeling experiments, support the involvement of aryl radicals and organochromium intermediates.
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