Noncovalent Interactions in Ir-Catalyzed C-H Activation: L-Shaped Ligand for Para-Selective Borylation of Aromatic Esters.

An efficient strategy for the para-selective borylation of aromatic esters is described. For achieving high para-selectivity, a new catalytic system has been developed modifying the core structure of the bipyridine. It has been proposed that the L-shaped ligand is essential to recognize the functionality of the oxygen atom of the ester carbonyl group via noncovalent interaction, which provides an unprecedented controlling factor for para-selective C-H activation/borylation.