A Cationic High‐Valent Cp*CoIII Complex for the Catalytic Generation of Nucleophilic Organometallic Species: Directed CH Bond Activation

Active without activation: In an inexpensive and atom-economical approach to CH bond functionalization, a cationic CoIII complex (see scheme) was used to generate nucleophilic organometallic species in situ without additional activating reagents. Under these conditions, aryl CH bonds underwent efficient addition to polar electrophiles, including α,β-unsaturated N-acyl pyrroles as β-substituted ester and amide surrogates.