The preparation of highly functionalized organometallic compounds can be achieved by direct C-H activation of a broad range of unsaturated substrates using lithium chloride solubilized 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidide bases (TMP(n)MX(m)⋅p LiCl). These are excellent reagents for converting a wide range of aromatic and heterocyclic substrates into valuable organometallic reagents with broad applications in organic synthesis.

The presence of LiCl considerably facilitates the insertion of magnesium into various aromatic and heterocyclic bromides. Several functional groups, such as -OBoc, -OTs, -Cl, -F, -CF(3), -OMe, -NMe(2), and -N(2)NR(2), are well tolerated. The presence of a cyano group leads in some cases to competitive reduction of the organic halide to the corresponding ArH compound. The presence of sensitive groups such as methyl or ethyl ester is tolerated upon in situ trapping of the intermediate magnesium reagent with ZnCl(2). This method can also be applied to the preparation of functionalized benzylic zinc reagents from benzylic chlorides. In the case of di- or tribromoaryl derivatives, directing groups such as -OPiv, -OTs, -N(2)NR(2), or -OAc orient the zinc insertion (Zn/LiCl) to the ortho-position, while the reaction with Mg/LiCl or Mg/LiCl/ZnCl(2) leads to regioselective insertion into the para-carbon-bromine bond. Large-scale experiments (20-100 mmol) for all of the metalation procedures are described.

Stereoselective functionalizations of organic molecules are of great importance to modern synthesis. A stereoselective preparation of pharmaceutically active molecules is often required to ensure the appropriate biological activity. Thereby, diastereoselective methods represent valuable tools for an efficient set-up of multiple stereocentres. In this article, highly diastereoselective Csp(3) Negishi cross-couplings of various cycloalkylzinc reagents with aryl halides are reported. In all cases, the thermodynamically most-stable stereoisomer was obtained. Remarkably, this diastereoselective coupling was successful not only for 1,2-substituted cyclic systems, but also for 1,3- and 1,4-substituted cyclohexylzinc reagents. The origin of this remote stereocontrol was investigated by NMR experiments and density functional theory calculations. A detailed mechanism based on these experimental and theoretical data is proposed.

Efficient and selective: Frustrated Lewis pairs based on BF3⋅OEt2 and LiCl‐complexed tmpMg or tmpZn amides (tmp=2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidyl) allow the efficient and regioselective metalation of various functionalized N heterocycles (see scheme for examples). Moreover, such metalations carried out in the presence or absence of BF3⋅OEt2 enable a complete switch of regioselectivity, thus allowing complementary functionalization.

Quinine, nicotine, and related electron-rich amino-substituted pyridines were readily metalated using LiCl-solubilized TMP (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidyl) bases in the presence of BF(3)·OEt(2). A full pyridine functionalization of all five positions of the pyridine ring can be realized by using an appropriate combination of TMP bases in the presence or absence of BF(3)·OEt(2).