Cross-coupling reactions of enol carbamates with alkynes or alkenes are reported, using an inexpensive ruthenium catalyst. With the assistance of the directing group OCONMe, the protocols provide mild, stereo-selective and efficient routes for the preparation of valuable (Z,Z) and (Z,E)-butadiene skeletons.

Great efforts have been made in the activation of a C(alkenyl)-H bond vicinal to the directing group to proceed via five- or six-membered endo-metallocycles. In stark contrast, functionalization of a C(alkenyl)-H bond geminal to the directing group via exo-metallocycle pathway continued to be elusive. Here we report the selective transformation of an olefinic C-H bond that is geminal to the directing group bearing valuable hydroxyl, carbamate or amide into a C-C bond, which proceeds through four- to eight-membered exo-palladacycles. Compared to the reported mechanisms proceeding only through six-membered exo-palladacycles via N,N-bidentate chelation, our weak and O-monodentate chelation-assisted C(alkenyl)-H activations tolerate longer or shorter distances between the olefinic C-H bonds and the coordinating groups, allowing for the functionalizations of many olefinic C-H bonds in alkenyl alcohols, carbamates and amides. The synthetic applicability has been demonstrated by the preparative scale and late-stage C-H functionalization of steroid and ricinoleate derivatives.

An oxidant-free cross-coupling reaction of electron-deficient alkenes using an inexpensive ruthenium catalyst is reported. With the assistance of the oxidizing directing group CONH(OMe), this protocol provides a mild, straightforward and efficient method for the preparation of valuable 1,3-butadiene skeletons with excellent Z,E selectivities.

The first tandem cross-coupling/oxa-Michael addition/dehydrogenation process via rhodium chemistry is described, which provides a straightforward and atom-economical protocol for the synthesis of a wide range of valuable γ-alkylidenebutenolides. This method is of particular interest because of employing widely available and low cost vinyl carboxylic acids and electron-deficient alkenes as building blocks. Moreover, the methodology can be applied to a gram scale synthesis with 1 mol% catalyst loading.

A Ru-catalyzed direct olefination of electron-deficient alkenes with allyl acetate via C-H bond activation is disclosed. By using N,N-disubstituted aminocarbonyl as the directing group, this external oxidant-free protocol resulted in high reaction efficiency and good stereo- and regioselectivities, which opens a novel synthetic passway for access to (Z,E)-butadiene skeletons.