Abstract: The present invention provides transition-metal-catalyst-based methods for the arylation and vinylation of activated methyl, methylene, and methine carbons with aryl halides, vinyl halides, and the like. The methods of the invention provide several improvements over existing methods, including the ability to synthesize efficiently and under mild conditions ?-aryl and ?-vinyl products from a wide range of starting materials, including ketones, esters, hydrazones, and imines. Furthermore, the methods of the invention may be used in an asymmetric sense, i.e. to produce enantiomerically-enriched chiral ?-aryl and ?-vinyl products.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for the preparation of a wide range of primary arylamines. The arylamines are prepared in two efficient, straightforward transformations: 1) an activated aryl group and an imine group are combined, in the presence of a transition metal catalyst, under conditions wherein the transition metal catalyst catalyzes the formation of a carbon-nitrogen bond between the activated carbon of the arene and the imine nitrogen; and 2) the resulting N-aryl imine is transformed, via any of a number of standard protocols, to the primary arylamine. The method of the invention may also be exploited in the preparation of vinylamines.