A highly selective Mn(I)-catalyzed dienylation of arenes
and heteroarenes
with acetylated allenes is described. The reported transformation
proceeds by a simple one-pot procedure and delivers linear 1,3-dienes
as single products with high stereoselectivity and total regioselectivity.
A great variety of allenic substrates bearing diverse substitution
patterns can be applied in this protocol where the insertion step
occurs at the terminal carbon of the allene coupling partner, in contrast
with the former preparations of dienes through C–H activation.
This practical strategy features wide functional group tolerance and
preparative scale utility showing very good efficiency in the late-stage
functionalization of complex valuable molecules. Furthermore, the
synthetic importance of the method is highlighted by different derivatizations
of the final products, which can exhibit interesting fluorescence
properties.