An atom- and step-economic intermolecular multi-component palladium-catalyzed C–H amidation of alkenes with carbon monoxide and organic azides has been developed for the synthesis of alkenyl amides. The reaction proceeds efficiently without an ortho-directing group on the alkene substrates. Nontoxic dinitrogen is generated as the sole by-product. Computational studies and control experiments have revealed that the reaction takes place via an unexpected mechanism by tandem palladium catalysis.
Key words
C–H carbonylation - amidation - palladium - alkene - amides