Tail‐To‐Tail Stereoselective Dimerization of Acrylate Derivatives via Iridium‐Catalyzed Vinylic sp 2 C−H Activation

We describe a cationic Ir‐catalyzed tail‐to‐tail dimerization of aryl acrylates starting from vinylic sp 2 C−H activation, which gives industrially useful adipic acid ester derivatives in high yields. We further expanded the reaction to an enantioselective dimerization using aryl methacrylates and achieved the first example of catalytic asymmetric dimerization of acrylate derivatives. magnified image