Nickel-catalyzed deallylation of aryl allyl ethers with hydrosilanes

Abstract

An efficient and mild catalytic deallylation method of aryl allyl ethers is developed, with commercially available Ni(COD)2 as catalyst precursor, simple substituted bipyridine as ligand and air-stable hydrosilanes. The process is compatible with a variety of functional groups and the desired phenol products can be obtained with excellent yields and selectivity. Besides, by detection or isolation of key intermediates, mechanism studies confirm that the deallylation undergoes η3-allylnickel intermediate pathway.