Manganese-catalyzed intermolecular benzylic C–H amination

Reactions that directly install nitrogen into C—H bonds of complex molecules are significant due to their ability to immediately change the chemical and biological properties of a given molecule. While selective intramolecular C—H amination reactions are known, intermolecular C—H amination reactions with high reactivity and selectivity are scarce. Achieving high levels of reactivity while maintaining excellent site-selectivity and functional group tolerance remains an important challenge for intermolecular C—H amination. We report a novel manganese perchlorophthalocyanine catalyst [Mn(ClPc)] for a highly site-selective intermolecular benzylic C—H amination of bioactive molecules and natural products. [Mn(ClPc)] is selective for benzylic C—H bonds over other C—H bond types and selects among multiple benzylic C—H bonds based on their electronic and steric properties