Copper-Catalyzed One-Pot Synthesis of Unsymmetrical Arylurea Derivatives via Tandem Reaction of Diaryliodonium Salts with N-Arylcyanamide

An efficient one-pot approach to multiple substituted ureas from N-arylcyanamide and diaryliodonium salts has been presented. The two-step procedure involved the weak base-promoted chemoselective arylation of secondary amines with diaryliodonium and Cu-catalyzed nucleophilic addition of N-arylcyanamide with second diaryliodonium. The diverse unsymmetrical arylureas were obtained in up to 91% yield for 29 examples.