para-Selective C-H borylation of benzamides and pyridines has been achieved by cooperative iridium/aluminum catalysis. A combination of iridium catalysts commonly employed for arene C-H borylation and bulky aluminum-based Lewis acid catalysts provides an unprecedented strategy for controlling the regioselectivity of C-H borylation to give variously substituted (hetero)arylboronates, which are versatile synthetic intermediates for complex multi-substituted aromatic compounds.
Keywords: C-H activation; Lewis acids; boronate esters; iridium; regioselectivity.
© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.