Para-Selective Cyanation of Arenes by H-Bonded Template

Abstract

The significance of site selective functionalization stands upon the superior selectivity, easy synthesis and diverse product utility. In this work, we demonstrate thepara-selective introduction of versatile nitrile moiety, enabled by a detachable and reusable H-bonded auxiliary. The methodology holds its efficiency irrespective of substrate electronic bias. The conspicuous shift in the step energetics was probed by both experimental and computational mechanistic tools, which heralds the inception ofpara-deuteration. The synthetic impact of the methodology was highlighted with reusability of directing group and post synthetic modifications.