An Expedient Route to 9‐Arylmethylanthracene Derivatives via Tandem Ni‐Catalyzed Alkene Dicarbofunctionalization and Acid‐Promoted Cyclization‐Aromatization

We report a nickel‐catalyzed one pot synthesis of 9‐arylmethylanthracene motifs, which find applications in medicinal and material chemistry. In this synthesis, we apply three component alkene dicarbofunctionalization of 2‐vinylaldimines with aryl iodides and arylzinc reagent to generate a 1,1,2‐diarylethyl scaffold, which then undergoes an acid‐promoted cyclization followed by aromatization to furnish 9‐arylmethylanthracene cores. With the new method, a number of differently‐substituted 9‐arylmethylanthracene derivatives can be synthesized in good yields.