Cooperative Lewis Acid Catalysis for the Enantioselective C(sp3)-H Bond Functionalizations of 2-Alkyl Azaarenes.

Herein, we describe the enantioselective C(sp3)-H bond functionalizations of 2-alkyl azaarenes using a cooperative dual Lewis acid catalysis. An achiral Lewis acid activates the unactivated azaarene partner without the need for a strong base. Orthogonally, a chiral-at-metal Lewis acid catalyst enables LUMO lowering and induces chirality. This method tolerates a range of complex molecular scaffolds and exhibits good to excellent yields and selectivity while accepting a wide variety of functional groups.