Merging NiH Catalysis and Inner-Sphere Metal-Nitrenoid Transfer for Hydroamidation of Alkynes

The formal hydroamination/hydroamidation utilizing metal hydride is an appealing synthetic tool for the construction of valuable nitrogen-containing compounds from unsaturated hydrocarbons. While significant advances have been made for the functionalizations of alkenes in this realm, the direct hydroamidation of alkynes remains rather limited due to the high feasibility of the key metal-alkenyl intermediate to choose other reaction pathways. Herein, we report a NiH-catalyzed strategy for the hydroamidation of alkynes with dioxazolones, which allows convenient access to synthetically useful secondary enamides in (E)-anti-Markovnikov or Markovnikov selectivity. The reaction is viable for both terminal and internal alkynes and is also tolerant with a range of subtle functional groups. With H2O found as an essential component for high catalyst turnovers, the involvement of inner-sphere nitrenoid transfer is proposed that outcompetes an undesired semireduction process, thus representing the first example to show the competence of Ni catalysis for metal-nitrenoid formation from dioxazolones.

Automated summary

A NiH-catalyzed strategy for the hydroamidation of alkynes with dioxazolones has been reported in this study, providing synthetically useful secondary enamides in (E)-anti-Markovnikov or Markovnikov selectivity. The reaction is viable for various alkynes and functional groups, with H2O found to be essential for high catalyst turnovers. Inner-sphere nitrenoid transfer is proposed as a key component in outcompeting undesired processes in the Ni catalysis.