Diastereodivergent Intermolecular 1,2-Diamination of Unactivated Alkenes Enabled by Iodine Catalysis

Satoshi Minakata shows an iodine-catalyzed, diastereodivergent intermolecular 1,2-diamination reaction.

The 1,2-diamine motif is a ubiquitous feature of bioactive compounds, a ligand for organic transformations, and a valuable synthetic intermediate for the construction of complex molecules. Addition reactions to alkenes are upstream transformations in synthetic organic chemistry, because such structures are essential feedstocks in a wide variety of petrochemical processes. Thus, the development of a robust methodology for the 1,2-diamination of alkenes is highly desirable. Professor Satoshi Minakata from Osaka University (Suita, Japan) and his research group are interested in developing fundamental organic transformations. He claimed that “controlling the relative configuration of two nitrogen moieties is crucial for the synthesis of diverse molecules, but there are no versatile and practical methods available for the anti- and syn-diamination of alkenes with complete control of the stereochemistry of the reaction.” Now the research group has succeeded in discovering simple, efficient, convenient, robust, and practical deamination method that has the potential to be used in the synthesis of various organic molecules and could even become a Name Reaction in the field of organic synthesis.

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