Rhodium-Catalyzed Synthesis of Imines and Esters from Benzyl Alcohols and Nitroarenes: Change in Catalyst Reactivity Depending on the Presence or Absence of the Phosphine Ligand

The [Rh(COD)Cl]2/xantphos/Cs2CO3 system efficiently catalyzes the reductive N-alkylation of aryl nitro compounds with alcohols by a borrowing-hydrogen strategy to afford the corresponding imine products in good to excellent yields. In the absence of xantphos, the [Rh(COD)Cl]2/Cs2CO3 catalytic system behaves as an effective catalyst for the dehydrogenative coupling of alcohols to esters, with nitrobenzene as a hydrogen acceptor. The reactivity of the rhodium catalytic system can be easily manipulated to selectively afford the imine or ester.