The Stabilized Cation Pool Method: Metal- and Oxidant-Free Benzylic C-H/Aromatic C-H Cross-Coupling

Electrochemical oxidation of toluene derivatives in the presence of a sulfilimine gave benzylaminosulfonium ions as stabilized benzyl cation pools, which reacted with subsequently added aromatic nucleophiles to give the corresponding cross-coupling products. The transformation serves as a powerful metal- and chemical-oxidant-free method for benzylic C-H/aromatic C-H cross-coupling. The method has been successfully applied to synthesis of TP27, an inhibitor of PTPase.