Access to Diarylmethanol Skeletons via a Samarium/Copper-Mediated Sequential Three-Component C-H Functionalization Reaction.

A novel three-component reaction was developed via a one-pot strategy for the construction of diarylmethanol esters by using a halobenzene and an ester in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) under mild conditions. The reaction involves the direct functionalization of halobenzene under the Sm-CuI catalyst system. It was proved that 10% (mol) of CuI is sufficient to realize the reductive coupling reaction. Influences of substituents were illustrated from both electronic and steric effects. The reaction mechanism was also discussed.