NH2 As a Directing Group: From the Cyclopalladation of Amino Esters to the Preparation of Benzolactams by Palladium(II)-Catalyzed Carbonylation of N-Unprotected Arylethylamines

An unusual NH2-directed Pd(II)-catalyzed carbonylation of quaternary aromatic alpha-amino esters to yield benzolactams has been developed. The steric hindrance around the amino group is pivotal for the success of the process. The stoichiometric cyclometalation of a variety amino esters has been studied in order to evaluate the influence of the different variables (size of the metallacycle, aromatic ring substituents, and steric bulk) in the process, and a complete kinetico-mechanistic study of the cyclopalladation process has been carried out. The experimental results indicate that the full substitution of the carbon in the alpha position of the amino esters plays an important role in their cyclopalladation reaction. The reaction shows a strong bias toward six-membered lactams over the five-membered analogues, which can be explained by a greater reactivity of the six-membered palladacycles.