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Abstract

Synthetic methods for oxidative aromatic C–O bond formation are sparse, despite their demand in metabolite synthesis for drug discovery and development. We report a novel methodology for late-stage C–O bond formation of arenes. The reaction proceeds with excellent functional group tolerance even for highly functionalized substrates. The resulting aryl mesylates provide access to potential human metabolites of pharmaceuticals, and may be used directly to install a C–F bond to block metabolic hotspots. A charge-transfer interaction between the reagent bis(methanesulfonyl) peroxide and the substrate arenes may be relevant for the chemoselective functionalization of arenes over other functional groups.