Rh(III)-Catalyzed Alkene Anti Nucleoamidation to Access Diverse Heterocycles

Alkene difunctionalization methods are an attractive way to rapidly build molecular complexity by using readily available starting materials. One common approach is transition metal-catalyzed nucleometalation, which converts the C–C double bond to a C–Nu bond and a C–M bond. Commonly, a tethered nucleophile is used to form pharmaceutically relevant heterocyclic cores in this manner. The resulting alkylmetal species can then be further functionalized in a number of ways. While methods exist to aminate the C–M bond, direct installation of valuable amides is rare. Additionally, nucleometalation methods are often limited to the use of a single type of nucleophile. Herein, we disclose a general method for the Rh(III)-catalyzed nucleoamidation of alkenes, forming a variety of heterocyclic cores.