Ruthenium(II)-Catalyzed C-H Functionalization Using the Oxazolidinone Heterocycle as a Weakly Coordinating Directing Group: Experimental and Computational Insights

Herein, we report the ruthenium-catalyzed ortho C-H alkenylation of a wide range of N-aryloxazolidinone scaffolds. Alkenylation was achieved with complete mono selectivity with a scope of 27 examples in 2-MeTHF. Yields ranged from 23 to 94%, producing highly decorated oxazolidinone scaffolds. A kinetically relevant C-H cleavage was also observed with a kinetic isotope effect (KIE) of similar to 2. Density functional theory calculations provided information about mechanism, detailing the beta-hydride elimination as the most energetically challenging step of 13.5 kcal mol(-1). In-depth computational kinetic studies also predicted a KIE of 2.17 for C-H cleavage and an intrinsic KIE for the reaction of 2.22, in line with the experimentally observed value.