underscoring the capacity of the SH2 mecha-
nism to generally construct sterically hin-
dered centers. Redox-active esters containing
electron-deficient backbones (i.e., azetidine
and difluoropyrrolidine) were found to be vi-
able coupling partners and underwent alkyl-
ation in good yields ( 17 to 19 , 46% to 69%
yield). In addition, bulkya-functionalized
exocyclic or acyclic amines could be accessed
via cross-coupling in good efficiency ( 20 and
21 , 64% and 51% yield). Furthermore, the
use of tertiary redox-active esters enabled
the formation of quaternary carbons, as rep-
resented in the acyclictert-butyl moiety and
a cyclicb-substituted pyrrolidine, as well as a
SCIENCEscience.org 3 DECEMBER 2021¥VOL 374 ISSUE 6572 1261
-amino carboxylic esters
CbzHN NHBoc
O
Me Me
NHBoc
Cl
Cbz
N
Me NHBoc
(±)- 16 , 80% yield
22 , 47% yield
(±)- 15 , 71% yield (±)- 17 , 46% yield* (±)- 19 , 61% yield
25 , 50% yield*
alkyl bromides
24 , 60% yield
18 , 69% yield,
20 , 64% yield (±)- 23 , 63% yield
tertiary carboxylic esters
26 , 68% yield
N
Boc
Me
O
HN
O
N
Boc
F Me
F
O
HN
O
S
Me
O NH O
O O
N
NHCbz
Boc
- oxy carboxylic esters
BocHN
secondary carboxylic esters
N
NHBoc
Cbz
28 , 65% yield (±)- 29 , 50% yield
CbzHN NHBoc
Me Me
21 , 51% yield
Me O NH O
Me
Me
N
Cbz
NHBoc
Fe(OEP)Cl (2 mol%)
(TMS) 3 SiNHAdm, KOAc
Ir photocatalyst 11 (1 mol%)
acetone : iPrOH (1:1)
blue LEDs, 2 h
N
Cbz
Me
O
O
NPhth
N
Cbz
NHBoc
Me
Me
N
Boc NHBoc
Cl
N
O
Cbz
(±)- 27 , 56% yield
Me
N
Cbz
Me
Cl
N
Cbz
Me
NHBoc
(±)- 32 , 71% yield
N
Cbz
Me
O
N
N
MeO
N
Cbz
Me
O
NN
CO 2 Et
36 , 70% yield
(±)- 41 , 75% yield (±)- 45 , 63% yield
37 , 52% yield
(±)- 42 , 52% yield
N N
N
CH 3
Me
N N
N
Cl
Me
N N
N
NHBoc
Me
33 , 63% yield
DD
(±)- 44 , 68% yield
(±)- 34 , n = 1, 33% yield
(±)- 39 , 74% yield
(±)- 43 , 65% yield||
N
Cbz
Me
NBoc
N
Cbz
OMe
NBoc
(±)- 30 , 59% yield
N N
N
Me
31 , 84% yield
Me
N
Cbz
Me
(^13) CD 3 N
Boc Me
Cl
N
Cbz
Me
OMe
O
(±)- 35 , n = 3, 76% yield
(±)- 10 , 70% yield
Boc
N
Me
O
H
N O
2
38 , 47% yield
N
MeO
Cbz
NHBoc
CbzN
OMe
OMe
HN O
4
then NaH
Fe
Br Cl
N
N
Boc
Cbz
N
Cbz
N
Cbz
Ir
CbzHN ON
O
CbzHN ON
O
accelerated access to spirocyclic saturated heterocycles
N
Cbz
Me
- O
75% yield of C(sp^33 ) product ( 14 )
Br O
HN O
(^43) NH O additional examples in
supplementary materials
n
then NaH
Fe
Br Cl
Ir
2
then NaH
Fe
Br Cl
Ir
46 , 66% yield 47 , 98% yield 48 , 62% yield 49 , 99% yield 50 , 55% yield 51 , 85% yield
N
Boc
ON
O
CbzHN
NHAr
Fig. 3. Photoredox and iron-catalyzed C(sp^3 )ÐC(sp^3 ) cross-coupling: Redox-active ester and alkyl bromide scope.All yields are isolated. See supplementary
materials for detailed reaction conditions. TMS, trimethylsilyl group; Adm, 1-adamantyl; KOAc, potassium acetate;iPrOH, isopropanol; Ar, 3-chloro-4-fluorophenyl;
N, phthalimide. With KOAc and Zn(OAc) 2 as bases.†With Zn(OAc) 2 as the base.‡With Ir(ppy) 2 (dtbbpy)PF 6 as the photocatalyst. §With 2 equivalents of
methylp-toluenesulfonate and tetrabutylammonium bromide. ||With Ir[dF(CF 3 )ppy] 2 (dtbbpy)PF 6 as the photocatalyst. ¶Sodium hydride, 60°C.
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