1,6-Aza-Michael addition of para-quinone methides with N-heterocycles catalyzed by Zn(OTf)₂: A regioselective approach to N-diarylmethyl-substituted heterocycles

An efficient Zn(OTf)(2)-catalyzed regioselective C-N bond making reaction between a bunch of aryl/heteroaryl-substituted para-quinone methides as ideal 1,6-acceptors and various aromatic/non-aromatic aza-heterocycles bearing N-H moiety namely carbazoles, pyrazoles, indazole, benzotriazole and saccharin is reported. This 1,6-aza-Michael technique delivers predominantly NI-diarylmethyl-substituted heterocyclic scaffolds bearing a valuable phenolic moiety in good to high yields with an excellent regioselectivity. Furthermore, this LUMO lowering catalytic system allows different kinds of useful functionalities and excels with broad substrates under mild conditions. Importantly, our control experiments suggested that N2-adducts of indazole, benzotriazole and 3-methyl pyrazole as minor isomers were progressively converted into N1-adducts during the reaction via a retro-aza-Michael reaction triggered by Zn(OTf)(2), offering excellent regioselectivities of the products. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.