Free‐Amine‐Directed Iridium‐Catalyzed C−H Bond Activation and Cyclization of Naphthalen‐1‐amines with Diazo Compounds Leading to Naphtho[1,8‐ bc ]pyridines

Iridium‐catalyzed C−H activation and cyclization of naphthalen‐1‐amines with diazo compounds leading to naphtho[1,8‐ bc ]pyridines have been developed. Different from the previous free‐amine‐directed C−H functionalization with diazo compounds that relied on the coordination of lone pair electrons or in situ formation of imine, this transformation passes through a five‐membered iridacycle intermediate containing an N−Ir σ‐bond. It offers an alternative approach for the synthesis of useful diverse naphtho[1,8‐ bc ]pyridine derivatives in mild conditions.