Cobalt(III)-Catalyzed Aerobic Diamination of α-Alkyl Styrenes with Anilines

A commercially available cobalt complex Cp*Co-III(CO)I-2 has been found to effectively catalyze the diamination of a-alkyl styrenes with anilines under a mild reaction condition, using dioxygen as the oxidant. This reaction features a reasonably good substrate scope of amines and a good functional group tolerance. Preliminary mechanistic studies have shown that Cp*Co-III(CO)I-2 alone can promote the diamination reaction.

Automated summary

A commercially available cobalt complex Cp*Co-III(CO)I-2 has been discovered to efficiently catalyze the diamination of α-alkyl styrenes with anilines under mild reaction conditions, using dioxygen as the oxidant. This reaction exhibits a reasonably wide substrate scope of amines and good functional group tolerance. Preliminary mechanistic studies have indicated that Cp*Co-III(CO)I-2 alone can facilitate the diamination reaction.