Weakly Coordinating Directing Groups for Ruthenium(II)-Catalyzed C-H Activation

Synthetically useful functional groups, including ketones, amides, carbamates, carboxylic acids, aldehydes or ethers, have been identified as weakly coordinating directing groups in efficient ruthenium(II)-catalyzed CH functionalizations. This strategy set the stage for versatile CH bond olefinations, oxygenations, nitrogenations and oxidative alkyne annulations among others. Thereby, step-economical access to diversely decorated arenes and heteroarenes was provided in a sustainable fashion.