Cerium ammonium nitrate: an efficient catalyst for carbon–carbon bond formation from ferrocenyl alcohol substrate

The substitution reaction of ferrocenyl alcohol with various nucleophiles catalyzed by cerium ammonium nitrate (CAN) was investigated. This CAN-mediated direct carbon–carbon bond formation provides the corresponding products in moderate to high yields with relatively lower catalyst loading (5 mol %) at room temperature. It demonstrated a convenient synthetic protocol for the ferrocene functionalities.