Ir(III)-Catalyzed Carbocarbation of Alkynes through Undirected Double C–H Bond Activation of Anisoles

A novel, electron-deficient cyclopentadienyl iridium(III) catalyst enables sequential cleavage of arene C(sp 2 )–H and methoxy C(sp 3 )–H bonds of anisoles, generating reactive metalacycles that insert difluoroalkynes to afford chromenes under mild reaction conditions. This transformation is an arylalkylation of an alkyne–a carbocarbation–via a nonchelate-assisted cleavage of two C–H bonds.