(NHC)Cu-Catalyzed Mild C-H Amidation of (Hetero)arenes with Deprotectable Carbamates: Scope and Mechanistic Studies

Primary arylamines are an important unit broadly found in synthetic, biological, and materials science. Herein we describe the development of a (NHC)Cu system that mediates a direct C-H amidation of (hetero)arenes by using N-chlorocarbamates or their sodio derivatives as the practical amino sources. A fade stoichiometric reaction of reactive copper-aryl intermediates with the amidating reagent led us to isolate key copper arylcarbamate species with the formation of a C-N bond. The use of (BuONa)-Bu-t base made this transformation catalytic under mild conditions. The present (NHC)Cu-catalyzed C-H amidation works efficiently and selectively on a large scale over a range of arenes including polyfluorobenzenes, azoles, and quinoline N-oxides. Deprotection of the newly installed carbamate groups such as Boc and Cbz was readily performed to afford the corresponding primary arylamines.