Abstract

Catenanes as a sub-category of mechanically interlocked molecules (MIMs) have been recently used in catalysis due to the unique properties arising from mechanical bond, where the interlocked catenane ligands provide kinetic stabilization to Cu(I) and offer a responsive coordination geometry, allowing copper’s active site to be available briefly for catalysis.1 Herein, we have utilized copper-[2]catenane as catalyst in the aerobic oxidative coupling between N-Aryl tetrahydroisoquinoline and indole with a broad substrate scope in good yields. Notably, other than O2, H2O2 is also successfully employed as an oxidant, where it was rarely reported as an oxidant in this reaction.

Reference

1. Zhu, L.; Li, J.; Yang, J.; Au-Yeung, H. Y. Chem. Sci., 2020, 11, 13008 – 13014.