Ru()-catalyzed external auxiliary-free primary amide-directed inverse Sonogashira reaction on (hetero)arylamides

Herein, we report ruthenium( ii )-catalyzed weakly coordinating primary amide-assisted ortho -di-alkynylation of (hetero)arylamides via double C-H bond activation in the presence of bromo-alkynes as coupling partners. The attractive features of the developed strategy lie in the usage of an inexpensive ruthenium( ii )-salt, external auxiliary-free directing group and simple reaction conditions, along with a broad substrate scope, high reaction yields and scale-up synthesis. An effective protocol has been developed for the mono/di-alkynylation of (hetero)arylamides via double C-H bond activation with bromo-alkynes as coupling partners using the primary amide as a directing group in the presence of a ruthenium( ii )-salt.