The aromatic Claisen rearrangement of a 1,2-azaborine

Rapid and Modular Access to Multifunctionalized 1,2-Azaborines via Palladium/Norbornene Cooperative Catalysis

1,2-Azaborines, a unique class of BN-isosteres of benzene, have attracted great interest across several fields. While significant advancements have been made in the postfunctionalization of 1,2-azaborines, challenges still exist for the selective functionalization of the C4 position and access to 1,2-azaborines with five or six independently installed substituents. Here we report a rapid and modular method for C3 and C4 difunctionalization of 1,2-azaborines using the palladium/norbornene (Pd/NBE) cooperative catalysis. Enabled by the C2 amide-substituted NBE, diverse 3-iodo-1,2-azaborines can be used as substrates, showing broad functional group tolerance. Besides ortho arylation, preliminary success of ortho alkylation has also been realized. In addition, a range of alkenes and nucleophiles can be employed for ipso C3 functionalization. The reaction is scalable, and various postfunctionalizations, including forming hexa-substituted 1,2-azaborines, have been achieved.