Development of a Mild and Efficient Process for Ir-Catalyzed N-Alkylation of 4-Bromopyridin-2-amine with a Primary Alcohol via Borrowing Hydrogen

We report herein the development and scale up of an Ir-catalyzed N-alkylation reaction between a 4-bromopyridin-2-amine (1) and (4-(5-(1,1-difluoroethyl)-1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-yl)bicyclo[2.2.2]octan-1-yl)methanol (2) proceeding via a borrowing hydrogen process. The traditional approach of alcohol oxidation followed by reductive amination posed challenges that are attributed to the poor nucleophilicity of the 2-aminopyridine derivative (1) resulting in lower isolated yields. Several catalysts and bases were evaluated for the successful N-alkylation of 1 with 2, and an Ir (III) catalyst in combination with LiOt-Bu as a base was found to provide optimal conversion. The borrowing hydrogen process was successfully demonstrated on a 1.5 kg scale and afforded >70% yield of 3 without the need for a sealed reactor or any other specialized equipment.