Two principal approaches to modify heteroaromatics by means of incorporation of a nucleophilic fragment through displacement of the C-H bond will be considered.
The first one is based on catalytic activation of the C-H bond. It involves the step of deprotonation followed by the formation of organometallic intermediates, which then react with nucleophiles into the final products (1).
The second approach suggests a direct nucleophilic attack at unsubstituted carbon of an heteroaromatic ring leading to the σH-adducts followed by either two electrons oxidation (“Addition-Oxidation” Protocol 2.1) or elimination of good-leaving group (“Addition-Elimination” Protocol 2.2).1,2
Both schemes involve the departure of proton, however the sequence and the ways of activations differ.
It has been well documented that the metal-free coupling reactions provide a good complementary basis for metal-catalysed cross-coupling reactions, as illustrated by many examples from the chemistry of biologically active compounds, macrocyclic derivatives, polymers, free stable radicals, metallocenes, carboranes, etc.3-7
The study was supported by the RSF (Project № 14-13-01177) and the RFBR (Project № 16-03-00958).