Cu II Complex of a 1,10‐Phenanthroline‐Based Pincer as an Efficient Catalyst for Oxidative Cross Dehydrogenative Coupling of Carboxylic Acids with Unactivated Alkanes

Synthesis of a well‐defined Cu II complex  1 featuring a phenanthroline‐based tridentate scaffold, 2‐pyrazol‐(1,10‐phenanthroline) ( L ) and studies of its catalytic activity in the cross dehydrogenative coupling of acids with common alkanes to form allylic esters are reported. The complex  1 showed excellent catalytic activity in the oxidative cross dehydrogenative coupling of a wide variety of alkanes with acids to form the corresponding allylic esters in moderate to high yields. Several control experiments along with spectroscopic studies were carried out to characterize catalyst  1 and to explore the plausible mechanistic pathways.