Maryia Barysevich

1,2,3,4-Tetrahydroquinolines (THQs) are important nitrogen heterocycles that are found in natural and synthetic products with broad applications (Scheme 1A). (1,2) THQs are present in dyes (3) and agrochemicals (4) and are ligands in coordination chemistry. (5) There are a wide array of naturally occurring THQs, (2) many of which display biological activity relevant to human health, including anti-inflammatory, (6) antiparasitic, (7) antibiotic, (8) and cytotoxic effects.

Amines are highly valued molecules, used to understand biological processes and in the discovery of new medicines. However, medium-sized cyclic and macrocyclic amines are extremely challenging to synthesize and are therefore underutilized. Now, up to 15-membered cyclic amines can be formed directly from smaller, more accessible rings via an organoborane-catalysed two-carbon-unit C–C bond insertion.