Hydroamination and Hydroaminoalkylation of Alkenes by Group 3-5 Elements: Recent Developments and Comparison with Late Transition Metals

This short review highlights recent catalyst developments from group 3-5 elements reported in the past few years to promote two highly atom-saving transformations, namely hydroamination and hydroaminoalkylation, for the synthesis of both cyclic and acyclic nitrogen-containing compounds. A specific emphasis is given to reports leading to scalemic compounds essentially via intramolecular hydroamination catalyzed by group 3-5 metals and intermolecular hydroaminoalkylation catalyzed by group 5 elements. In both transformations, performances of these electropositive metals will be compared with recent developments obtained through late-transition-metal catalysis.