Copper-Catalyzed Oxidative Three-Component Synthesis of N, N′, N-Trisubstituted Guanidines

A copper-catalyzed three-component synthesis of trisubstituted N-aryl guanidines involving cyanamides, arylboronic acids, and amines has been developed. This operationally simple oxidative process, which is performed in the presence of K2CO3, a catalytic amount of CuCl2 center dot 2H(2)O, bipyridine, and oxygen (1 atm), allows the rapid assembly of N,N',N ''-trisubstituted aryl guanidines.