Weakly Coordinating Directing Groups for Ruthenium(II)‐ Catalyzed CH Activation

Abstract Synthetically useful functional groups, including ketones, amides, carbamates, carboxylic acids, aldehydes or ethers, have been identified as weakly coordinating directing groups in efficient ruthenium(II)‐catalyzed CH functionalizations. This strategy set the stage for versatile CH bond olefinations, oxygenations, nitrogenations and oxidative alkyne annulations among others. Thereby, step‐economical access to diversely decorated arenes and heteroarenes was provided in a sustainable fashion. magnified image