Substrate-promoted copper-catalyzed N-arylation of amino alcohols with aryl iodides in water

An efficient method has been developed for the N-arylation of a variety of water-soluble amino alcohols (1.2 mmol) with aryl iodides (1.0 mmol) in water under CuI-catalyzed conditions. The reaction was conducted via substrate-promoted action and did not require an additional ligand or phase-transfer catalyst, and afforded the desired N-aryl amines in acceptable to excellent yields (64%-93%) under mild reaction conditions with a small excess of the amino alcohol. (C) 2013, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.