Ruthenium-Catalyzed Carbonylative Coupling of Anilines with Organoboranes by the Cleavage of Neutral Aryl C-N Bond.

Herein, we report the first ruthenium-catalyzed Suzuki-type carbonylative reaction of electronically neutral anilines via C(aryl)-N bond cleavage. Without any ligand and base, diaryl ketones can be obtained in moderate to high yields by using Ru3(CO)12 as the catalyst and chelation assisted by pyridine. The pyridine ring has a significant effect on both high efficiency and high regioselectivity in the cleavage of the aryl C-N bond in anilines.