Programmable arene ring opening unlocks the diversification of phenols.

Authors

Yilei Huang, Han Zhu, Yichi Chen, Teng Wang, Zhibin Hu, Ming-Hui Zhu, Zengrui Cheng, Hongwei Shi, Junhong Meng, Xi Wang, Yixian Wu, Ning Jiao

Published in

Nature chemistry. Jul 14, 2026. Epub Jul 14, 2026.

Abstract

The inert carbon-carbon bonds of aromatic systems have long impeded the direct diversification of phenolic feedstocks into value-added scaffolds. Although enzymatic or energy-intensive strategies enable limited arene modifications, the controlled and programmable ring opening of phenols to unlock both skeletal and functional group diversity remains a fundamental challenge. Here we report an operationally simple and efficient nitrogenation strategy for cleaving phenolic arene rings, converting phenols into uniquely structured acyclic N-containing products including cyanopenta-dienoates, cyanopenta-dienamides and cyanopenta-dienoic acids. The method also enables scaffold hopping of corresponding arene rings, leading to important five-, six- and seven-membered N-heterocycles. The strategy demonstrates broad utility in late-stage modification of bioactive molecules, diversified skeletal remodelling of phenolic feedstocks, and the application of ring-opening products in polymer development. This approach transforms phenols into programmable linchpins for accessing underexplored chemical space, offering broad potential for synthetic chemistry and materials science.

PMID:
42448948
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 15 Jul 2026.

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