Asymmetric Copper-Catalyzed Intermolecular Aminoarylation of Styrenes: Efficient Access to Optical 2,2-Diarylethylamines

We have developed a copper-catalyzed enantioselective intermolecular aminoarylation of alkenes using a novel N-fluoro-N-alkylsulfonamide as the amine reagent, which could react with the Cu(I) catalyst to release a related amino radical. After addition to styrene, the generated benzylic radical could couple with a chiral L*CuIIAr complex to achieve enantioselective arylation. Various optical 2,2-diarylethylamines were efficiently synthesized from simple styrenes with high enantioselectivity, and these products can serve as valuable synthons toward bioactive molecules’ synthesis.