The functionalization of carbon-hydrogen bonds in non-nucleophilic substrates using α-carbonyl sulfoxonium ylides has not been so far investigated, despite the potential safety advantages that such reagents would provide over either diazo compounds or their in situ precursors. Described herein are the cross-coupling reactions of sulfoxonium ylides with C(sp )-H bonds of arenes and heteroarenes in the presence of a rhodium catalyst. The reaction proceeds by a succession of C-H activation, migratory insertion of the ylide into the carbon-metal bond, and protodemetalation, the last step being turnover-limiting. The method is applied to the synthesis of benz[c]acridines when allied to an iridium-catalyzed dehydrative cyclization.

The poor regioselectivity of the [4 + 2] cycloaddition of 3-azetidinones with internal alkynes bearing two alkyl substituents via nickel-catalyzed carbon-carbon activation is addressed using 1,3-enynes as substrates. The judicious choice of substitution on the enyne enables complementary access to each regioisomer of 3-hydroxy-4,5-alkyl-substituted pyridines, which are important building blocks in medicinal chemistry endeavors.

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