1,3-Halogen migration as an entry to aryl coppers from an unintuitive starting material.

A copper(I) catalyzed 1,3-halogen migration/borylation migrates a bromine from an sp(2) carbon to a benzylic carbon with concomitant borylation of the aryl-bromine bond. This transformation proceeds via an aryl copper intermediate which can be accessed independently and then trapped with electrophiles. As such, copper-catalyzed 1,3-halogen migration provides unique and mild access to an aryl copper species that allows for rapid aromatic functionalization from an unconventional starting material.

Formal Asymmetric Hydrobromination of Styrenes via Copper-Catalyzed 1,3-Halogen Migration.

An enantioselective Cu(I)-catalyzed 1,3-halogen migration reaction accomplishes a formal hydrobromination by transferring a bromine activating group from a sp2 carbon to a benzylic carbon in good er and with concomitant borylation of the Ar-Br bond. Computational modelling aids in understanding the reaction outcome and suggests future directions to improve the formal asymmetric hydrobromination. The benzyl bromide can be displaced with a variety of nucleophiles to produce a wide array of functionalized products.