Hydroarylation of olefins catalysed by a dimeric ytterbium(II) alkyl

Although the nucleophilic alkylation of aromatics has recently been achieved with a variety of potent main group reagents, all of this reactivity is limited to a stoichiometric regime. We now report that the ytterbium(II) hydride, [BDI YbH] (BDI = CH[C(CH )NDipp] , Dipp = 2,6-diisopropylphenyl), reacts with ethene and propene to provide the ytterbium(II) n-alkyls, [BDI YbR] (R = Et or Pr), both of which alkylate benzene at room temperature. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that this latter process operates through the nucleophilic (S 2) displacement of hydride, while the resultant regeneration of [BDI YbH] facilitates further reaction with ethene or propene and enables the direct catalytic (anti-Markovnikov) hydroarylation of both alkenes with a benzene C-H bond. Dipp Dipp Dipp Dipp 2 3 2 2 N 2