Cobalt-catalyzed regioselective cross-dehydrogenative C O coupling of 1-naphthylamide derivatives with diols

The cobalt-catalyzed regioselective C H alkoxylation of 1-naphthylamide with diols through a bidentate-chelation assistance has been developed. In this transformation, not only linear diols, but also branched diols and oligoethylene glycols were tolerated under current reaction conditions, affording the corresponding hydroxyalkyl aryl ethers. In addition, control experiments suggested that picolinoyl was the key directing group, and furthermore, this C8-H alkoxylation reaction might proceed through a single-electron-transfer (SET) process.