Catalyst-controlled regiodivergent ring-opening C(sp3)-Si bond-forming reactions of 2-arylaziridines with silylborane enabled by synergistic palladium/copper dual catalysis

A catalyst-controlled regiodivergent and stereospecific ring-opening C(sp(3))-Si cross-coupling of 2-arylaziridines with silylborane enabled by synergistic Pd/Cu dual catalysis has been developed. Just by selecting a suitable combination of catalysts, the regioselectivity of the coupling is completely switched to efficiently provide two regioisomers of beta-silylamines (i.e., beta-silyl-alpha-phenethylamines and beta-silyl-beta-phenethylamines) in good to high yields. Furthermore, a slight modification of the reaction conditions caused a drastic change in reaction pathways, leading to a tandem reaction to produce another regioisomer of silylamine (i.e., alpha-silyl-beta-phenethylamines) in an efficient and selective manner.