Direct Functionalization of Nitrogen Heterocycles via Rh-Catalyzed C−H Bond Activation

[Reaction: see text]. Nitrogen heterocycles are present in many compounds of enormous practical importance, ranging from pharmaceutical agents and biological probes to electroactive materials. Direct functionalization of nitrogen heterocycles through C-H bond activation constitutes a powerful means of regioselectively introducing a variety of substituents with diverse functional groups onto the heterocycle scaffold. Working together, our two groups have developed a family of Rh-catalyzed heterocycle alkylation and arylation reactions that are notable for their high level of functional-group compatibility. This Account describes our work in this area, emphasizing the relevant mechanistic insights that enabled…