Palladium-catalyzed hydroaminocarbonylation of alkenes with amines: A strategy to overcome the basicity barrier imparted by aliphatic amines

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/anie.201502405

A novel and efficient palladium-catalyzed hydroaminocarbonylation of alkenes with aminals has been developed under mild reaction conditions, and allows the synthesis of a wide range of N-alkyl linear amides in good yields with high regioselectivity. On the basis of this method, a cooperative catalytic system operating by the synergistic combination of palladium, paraformaldehyde, and acid was established for promoting the hydroaminocarbonylation of alkenes with both aromatic and aliphatic amines, which do not react well under conventional palladium-catalyzed hydroaminocarbonylation. Back to basics: The basicity of aliphatic amines precludes their use in the palladium-catalyzed hydroaminocarbonylation. This issue was overcome by using aminals as surrogates of aliphatic amines. A cooperative catalytic system was discovered to operate by the synergistic combination of palladium, paraformaldehyde, and acid for promotion of the hydroaminocarbonylation of alkenes with both aromatic and aliphatic amines.