Iron-Catalyzed Remote Arylation of Aliphatic C-H Bond via 1,5-Hydrogen Shift

Catalytic amounts of an iron(III) salt and a N-heterocyclic carbene ligand catalyze the arylation of 2-iodoalkylarenes with diphenylzinc selectively at the gamma C-H bond of the alkyl side chain. Several lines of evidence suggest that the iron catalyst reacts with the aryl iodide moiety of the substrate to generate an aryliron intermediate that behaves in a radical manner and cleaves the aliphatic C-H bond through 1,5-hydrogen transfer; the resulting alkyliron intermediate undergoes reductive elimination to give the arylated product.