Résumé
Carbon-hydrogen bonds are the most prevalent functionality in organic chemistry constituting the scaffolding of most molecules. Activation of these typically strong bonds has been the subject of intense interest for more than two decades. The use of directing groups to distinguish between otherwise identical bonds has emerged as a powerful strategy, albeit occasionally complicated by the need to introduce and subsequently remove the necessary directing group. We have been engaged in the use of piano stool Rh(III) catalysts to activate a variety of strong C-H bonds by using resident functionality that then is incorporated into the target product. Reaction discovery, catalyst modification and asymmetric reactions will the subject of this lecture.
