Highly efficient heterogeneous aerobic cross-dehydrogenative coupling via C-H functionalization of tertiary amines using a nanoporous gold skeleton catalyst

We report for the first time that zero-valent nanoporous gold (AuNPore) is a robust and green heterogeneous catalyst for α-C-H functionalization of various tertiary amines. AuNPore combines with molecular oxygen at 80 °C or tert-butyl hydrogen peroxide at room temperature and catalyses the heterogeneous cross-dehydrogenative coupling (CDC) reaction efficiently to afford the corresponding C-C and C-heteroatom coupling products in good to excellent yields with excellent reusability.