Employing a robustness screen: rapid assessment of rhodium(III)-catalysed C–H activation reactions

Following the discovery of new synthetic methodology, an assessment of its potential utility in real synthetic problems is highly desirable to facilitate its application. Herein, we describe an assessment of two contemporary rhodium catalysed C–H activation methodologies using our recently reported ‘robustness screen’. The results of this screen provide an evaluation of the tolerance of each reaction to specific chemical functionalities and structural motifs, as well as the stability of these functionalities and motifs to the reaction conditions. The results of this screen provide valuable data that can be directly applied in the design of synthetic routes, and thus can facilitate the application of the evaluated reactions.