Ligand-free cross-coupling of electron-poor aryl triflates with ZnCl ₂ complexes of amines

The efficient conversion of electron-poor aryl triflates to the corresponding aromatic amines was accomplished by using ZnCl ₂complexes of organic amines as nitrogen source with K ₂CO₃ as the base in DMSO. The coupling reaction was performed in air and ligand-free without the sealed vessel. A possible mechanism, which was different with aromatic nucleophilic substitution (S _NAr), was proposed. The animation products were confirmed by ¹H NMR, IR and MS techniques.