Amidoximes, obtained from the reaction of nitriles with hydroxylamine, underwent Tiemann rearrangement in the presence of benzenesulfonyl chlorides (TsCl or o-NsCl) to form the N-substituted cyanamides. Subsequently, acidic hydrolysis of the cyanamides afforded the corresponding N-monosubstituted ureas. The synthesis of N-monosubstituted ureas from nitriles was accomplished by three steps in one pot, which provides a direct access to versatile N-monosubstituted urea derivatives from a wide variety of nitriles.

Two different reaction pathways were observed in the sulfonylation of N-phenylbenzamidoximes. The reaction with o-NsCl at a heating temperature gave N,N 0 -diphenylureas via Tiemann rearrangement, while the reaction with Ts 2 O at a lower temperature formed 2-phenylbenzimidazoles via intramolecular electrophilic aromatic substitution. When the amide nitrogen was replaced with carbon substituents, oxime derivatives of benzoins and benzils underwent Beckmann fragmentation reactions upon sulfonylation, whereas sulfonylation of 2-phenylacetophenone oxime afforded exclusively the Beckmann rearrangement adduct.