Highly dispersed nano-copper catalyst on porous polyvinyl chloride for highly regioselective borylation of alkynes

We developed a highly regioselective synthesis of multi-substituted alkenylboronates via a heterogeneous ligand-free nano-copper catalyst that was highly dispersed and supported on the porous polyvinyl chloride. In this catalytic system, substituents on the terminal alkynes could affect the configuration of products. Terminal alkynes and general internal alkynes gave β-selective borylation products, whereas heteroatom-substituted alkynes like alkynamides, thioacetylenes, and ynol ethers gave α-selective borylation products in good chemical yields with exclusive regioselectivity.