Asymmetric Copper-Catalyzed Intermolecular Aminoarylation of Styrenes: Efficient Access to Optical 2,2-Diarylethylamines

We have developed a copper-catalyzed enantio­selective inter­molecular amino­arylation of alkenes using a novel N-fluoro-N-alkyl­sulfon­amide as the amine reagent, which could react with the Cu­(I) catalyst to release a related amino radical. After addition to styrene, the generated benzylic radical could couple with a chiral L*Cu^IIAr complex to achieve enantio­selective aryl­ation. Various optical 2,2-diaryl­ethyl­amines were efficiently synthesized from simple styrenes with high enantio­selectivity, and these products can serve as valuable synthons toward bioactive molecules’ synthesis.