In a paper appearing this morning in ChemRxiv, we report the Pd(II)-catalyzed coupling of nitroalkanes and alkenes using a directed carbopalladation strategy. The combined use of PdI₂ as precatalyst and HFIP as solvent proved to be uniquely effective in activating nitroalkane pronucleophiles. This finding can be leveraged in chemorthogonal activation of bis-nucleophilic coupling partners under different conditions. The resulting C(sp³)-NO₂ group in the product is a versatile functional handle that can be converted into myriad useful functional groups, granting access to product structures that are otherwise difficult to prepare. Bravo to the team: Amit, Warabhorn (Por), Hui-Qi, and John!

For a link to the ChemRxiv pre-print, click here: https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/61f56e5c71868defd0c2a7d5