Iron-Catalyzed Dehydrogenative sp3-sp2 Coupling via Direct Oxidative C-H Activation of Acetonitrile.

An iron-catalyzed dehydrogenative sp3-sp2 coupling of acetonitrile and 2-arylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine has been realized, which can serve as a novel approach toward heteroarylacetonitriles. The merit of this strategy is illustrated by the breadth of functional groups tolerated in the transformation and the fast access to pharmaceuticals (such as zolpidem) directly from the heteroarylacetonitriles.