Chromium-catalyzed couplings of C(aryl)-SMe bonds for accessing arylated and alkylated benzaldehyde derivatives.

Described here is the chromium-catalyzed cleavage of C(aryl)-SMe bonds leading to coupling with organomagnesium to give functionalized benzaldehydes under mild conditions. This reaction was promoted specifically by a low-cost and simple CrCl 2 salt used as a precatalyst, enabling synchronous activations of ortho -C(aryl)-SMe and ortho '-C(aryl)-H bonds to achieve difunctionalization of benzaldimines. This work provided a strategy for accessing arylated, alkylated, and diarylated benzaldehyde derivatives as a result of the couplings of C(aryl)-SMe and C(aryl)-SMe/C(aryl)-H bonds promoted with cost-effective Cr catalysis.