Mechanistic Snapshots of Rhodium-Catalyzed Acylnitrene Transfer Reactions

S. Chang and D. Kim give mechanistic insights on Rh-catalyzed acylnitrene transfer reactions.

Catalytic C–N bond formation stands as a crucial and highly sought-after process in the realms of synthetic, medicinal, and materials chemistry, offering a pathway to valuable nitrogen-containing compounds. While the Buchwald–Hartwig coupling method has emerged as a practical approach for furnishing valuable amine products, catalytic C−H amination is also considered as an attractive strategy, obviating the demand for pre-functionalized substrates and directly converting hydrocarbon precursors into the desired amine products. Professor Sukbok Chang from the Institute for Basic Science and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (IBS and KAIST, Daejeon, South Korea) mentioned that “transition-metal catalysis platforms have been devised to facilitate hydrocarbon aminations through metal-nitrenoid transfer routes, employing nitrene precursors, most notably organic azides.
Together with co-corresponding author Dongwook Kim and his research group, Professor Chang solved the long-standing challenge of identifying metal-acylnitrenoid intermediacy in the catalytic C–H amidation process. Their study represents a significant breakthrough in catalytic hydrocarbon amidation.

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