General Entry into o-,o'-Heteroatom-Linked N-(Hetero) aryl-Imidazole Motifs by Gold-Catalysed Formal [3+2]-Dipolar Cycloaddition

A general redox-neutral approach into the o-,o'-heteroatom-linked N-(hetero) aryl-imidazole family of heteroaromatics has been developed. New types of heteroatom substituted carbimidoyl nitrenoids are efficiently realised from robust, bench-stable N-(heteroaryl)-pyridinium-N-aminides by formal gold-catalysed [3+2]-dipolar cycloadditions across ynamides. Broad structural variety and functional group tolerance allows rapid access into diverse functionalised scaffolds, as exemplified by the preparation of 8 different heteroaromatic cores.