Practical Singly and Doubly Electrophilic Aminating Agents: A New, More Sustainable Platform for Carbon-Nitrogen Bond Formation

J Am Chem Soc. 2017 Aug 16;139(32):11184-11196. doi: 10.1021/jacs.7b05279. Epub 2017 Jul 13.

Abstract

Given the importance of amines in a large number of biologically active natural products, active pharmaceutical ingredients, agrochemicals, and functional materials, the development of efficient C-N bond-forming methods with wide substrate scope continues to be at the frontier of research in synthetic organic chemistry. Here, we present a general and fundamentally new synthetic approach for the direct, transition-metal-free preparation of symmetrical and unsymmetrical diaryl-, arylalkyl-, and dialkylamines that relies on the facile single or double addition of readily available C-nucleophiles to the nitrogen atom of bench-stable electrophilic aminating agents. Practical single and double polarity reversal (i.e., umpolung) of the nitrogen atom is achieved using sterically and electronically tunable ketomalonate-derived imines and oximes. Overall, this novel approach represents an operationally simple, scalable, and environmentally friendly alternative to transition-metal-catalyzed C-N cross-coupling methods that are currently used to access structurally diverse secondary amines.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amination
  • Amines / chemical synthesis
  • Amines / chemistry*
  • Carbon / chemistry*
  • Catalysis
  • Hydrocarbons, Aromatic / chemical synthesis
  • Hydrocarbons, Aromatic / chemistry*
  • Models, Molecular
  • Nitrogen / chemistry*
  • Stereoisomerism
  • Transition Elements / chemistry

Substances

  • Amines
  • Hydrocarbons, Aromatic
  • Transition Elements
  • Carbon
  • Nitrogen