The Regioselective Switch for Amino-NHC Mediated C-H Activation of Benzimidazole via Ni-Al Synergistic Catalysis

We have disclosed a new mode of a chemically regioselective switch for C-H bond functionalization of benzimidazole derivatives via a cooperative effect invoked by Ni-Al bimetallic catalysis to create a steric requirement for obtaining the linear product of styrene insertion. Yet, excluding the AlMe3 cocatalyst switches the reaction toward branch selectivity.