meta -Allylation of Arenes via Ruthenium-Catalyzed Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling.

A successful example of oxidative meta -dehydrogenative allylation of arenes with alkenes has been developed using Ru(PPh 3 ) 3 Cl 2 as a catalyst and DTBP as an oxidant. In the allylation process, pyrimidines, pyrazoles, and purines, found widely in nucleosides, were effective auxiliary groups. Gram-scale experiments took place smoothly under optimized conditions. Mechanistic studies indicated that ruthenium-catalyzed meta -dehydrogenative allylation was a free-radical process. The allylation process developed herein provides an efficient and practical strategy to prepare versatile meta -allylated arenes.