A manganese/copper bimetallic catalyst for C–N coupling reactions under mild conditions in water

An efficient and convenient bimetallic MnF2/CuI catalyst in combination with trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane has been developed for the cross-coupling of nitrogen heterocycles with aryl halides in water at moderate temperature. A variety of nitrogen nucleophiles including pyrazole, 7-azaindole, indazole, indole, pyrrole and imidazole afforded the corresponding products in moderate to good yields (up to 94%) under the described arylation conditions.