Bis(amidate) titanium precatalyst for the intermolecular hydroamination of allenes

A bis(amidate)-bis(amido) titanium complex (5) is an efficient precatalyst for the regioselective intermolecular hydroamination of substituted allenes. Arylamines react quickly with a 5 mol% precatalyst loading at 90 degrees C to give the ketimine product, which can be reduced to give substituted amines. With precatalyst loading of 10 mol% and temperatures of 120 degrees C alkyl amines can be used as viable substrates for the hydroamination of substituted allenes. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.