“…Besides, the electron-withdrawing CN bond also slightly increased the acidity of α-C(sp 3 )–H protons of alkyl ketimines (e.g., 1-alkyl-3,4-dihydroquinolines), making them behave as potential carbonucleophiles to react with different types of electrophiles . However, due to the high p K a value, the research on the functionalization at the α-C(sp 3 ) position mainly focused on several reactive ketimines, such as N -sulfonyl ketimines, which bear an electron-withdrawing sulfonyl group on the imine nitrogen atom . In contrast, direct α-C(sp 3 )–H functionalization of common N -alkyl cyclic ketimines like 1-alkyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinolines is still less explored …”