Room-Temperature Palladium-Catalyzed Deuterogenolysis of Carbon Oxygen Bonds towards Deuterated Pharmaceuticals.

Site-specific incorporation of deuterium into drug molecules to study and improve their biological properties is crucial for drug discovery and development. Herein, we describe a palladium-catalyzed room-temperature deuterogenolysis of carbon-oxygen bonds in alcohols and ketones with D2 balloon for practical synthesis of deuterated pharmaceuticals and chemicals with benzyl-site (sp3 C-H) D-incorporation. The highlights of this deoxygenative deuteration strategy are mild conditions, broad scope, practicability and high chemoselectivity. To enable the direct use of D2 O, electrocatalytic D2 O-splitting is adapted to in situ supply D2 on demand. With this system, the precise incorporation of deuterium in the metabolic position (benzyl-site) of ibuprofen is demonstrated in a sustainable and practical way with D2 O.