Manganese-Catalyzed Direct Olefination of Methyl-Substituted Heteroarenes with Primary Alcohols

Herein, we present the first catalytic direct olefination of methyl-substituted heteroarenes with primary alcohols through an acceptorless dehydrogenative coupling. The reaction is catalyzed by a complex of the earth-abundant transition metal manganese that is stabilized by a bench-stable NNN pincer ligand derived from 2-hydrazinylpyridine. The reaction is environmentally benign, producing only hydrogen and water as byproducts. A large number of E-disubstituted olefins were selectively obtained with high efficiency.