We present a base-mediated hydroamination protocol, using substoichiometric amounts of a hydrosilane and potassium tert-butoxide, that operates under mild conditions at 30 °C. Many aryl- and heteroatom-substituted olefins as well as arylamines are tolerated, affording the desired products with complete regioselectivity. Preliminary mechanistic investigations reveal a non-radical pathway for hydroamination. A sequential remote hydroamination strategy involving an initial Fe-catalysed olefin isomerisation followed by our base-mediated hydroamination was also developed to directly access β-arylamines from terminal aliphatic alkenes.
Key words
hydroamination - remote alkene functionalization - base-mediated - regioselectivity - transition-metal-free