Iron-catalyzed arene C−H hydroxylation

Ironing on hydroxyls Although iron-dependent enzymes efficiently hydroxylate aryl rings, this activity has proven hard to replicate with synthetic catalysts. Cheng et al . report that a disulfide ligand activates iron to catalyze carbon–hydrogen hydroxylation of a wide variety of arenes using hydrogen peroxide. The protocol can also cleanly functionalize phenols with an additional hydroxyl group, although unfunctionalized arenes react more rapidly, in contrast to conventional oxidative selectivity patterns. The authors showcase this complementary selectivity through hydroxylation of pharmaceuticals with complex substitution patterns. —JSY