The manganese-catalyzed cyanation of inert C-H bonds was achieved within a heterobimetallic catalysis regime. The manganese(I) catalysis proved widely applicable and enabled C-H cyanations on indoles, pyrroles and thiophenes by facile C-H manganesation. The robustness of the manganese catalyst set the stage for the racemization-free C-H cyanation of amino acids with excellent levels of positional and chemo selectivity by the new cyanating agent NCFS. Experimental and computational mechanistic studies provided strong support for a synergistic heterobimetallic activation mode, facilitating the key C-C formation.
Keywords: C−H activation; amino acid; cyanation; heterocycle; manganese.
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