Manganese-Catalyzed Dual-Deoxygenative Coupling of Primary Alcohols with 2-Arylethanols.

Reported herein is a general and efficient dual-deoxygenative coupling of primary alcohols with 2-arylethanols catalyzed by a well-defined Mn/PNP pincer complex. This reaction is the first example of the catalytic dual-deoxygenation of alcohols using a non-noble-metal catalyst. Both deoxygenative homocoupling of 2-arylethanols (17 examples) and their deoxygenative cross-coupling with other primary alcohols (20 examples) proceeded smoothly to form the corresponding alkenes by a dehydrogenation and deformylation reaction sequence.