The discovery, study, and implementation of the Co- and Mn-catalyzed hydrohydrazination and hydroazidation reactions of olefins are reported. These reactions are equivalent to direct hydroaminations of C-C double bonds with protected hydrazines or hydrazoic acid but are based on a different concept in which the H and the N atoms come from two different reagents, a silane and an oxidizing nitrogen source (azodicarboxylate or sulfonyl azide). The hydrohydrazination reaction using di-tert-butyl azodicarboxylate is characterized by its ease of use, large functional group tolerance, and broad scope, including mono-, di-, tri-, and tetrasubstituted olefins. Key to the development of the hydroazidation reaction was the use of sulfonyl azides as nitrogen sources and the activating effect of tert-butyl hydroperoxide. The reaction was found to be efficient for the functionalization of mono-, di-, and trisubstituted olefins, and only a few functional groups are not tolerated. The alkyl azides obtained are versatile intermediates and can be transformed to the free amines or triazoles without isolation of the azides. Preliminary mechanistic investigations suggest a rate-limiting hydrocobaltation of the alkene, followed by an amination reaction. Radical intermediates cannot be ruled out and may be involved.

No abstract

Hypervalent iodine compounds are privileged reagents in organic synthesis because of their exceptional reactivity. Among these compounds, cyclic derivatives stand apart because of their enhanced stability. They have been widely used as oxidants, but their potential for functional‐group transfer has only begun to be investigated recently. The use of benziodoxol(on)es for trifluoromethylation (Togni's reagents) is already widely recognized, but other transformations have also attracted strong interest recently. In this Review, the development in the area since 2011 will be presented. After a short summary of synthetic methods to prepare benziodoxol(on)e reagents, their use to construct carbon–heteroatom and carbon–carbon bonds will be presented. In particular, the introduction of alkynes by using ethynylbenziodoxol(on)e (EBX) reagents has been highly successful. Breakthroughs in the introduction of alkoxy, azido, difluoromethyl, and cyano groups will also be described.

In addition to the well-established nucleophilic alkynylation, the use of electrophilic alkynes can expand 5 tremendously the scope of acetylene transfer reactions. The use of metal catalysis has recently led to a rebirth of this research area. Halogenoalkynes, hypervalent alkynyliodoniums, acetylene sulfones and in situ oxidation of terminal acetylenes are the most often used for electrophilic alkynylation. Heteroatoms such as N, O, S and P can be now efficiently alkynylated. For C-C bond formation, electrophilic acetylenes can be coupled with different organometallics reagents. Recently, the first breakthrough in 10 direct C-H and C=C bond alkynylation have also been reported. Finally, sulfonyl acetylenes are efficient for alkyne transfer on carbon-centered radicals.

This report describes a full study of the gold‐catalyzed direct alkynylation of indoles, pyrroles, and thiophenes using alkynyl hypervalent iodine reagents, especially the study of the structural requirements of alkynyl benziodoxolones for an efficient acetylene transfer to heterocycles. An improved procedure for the alkynylation of pyrroles using pyridine as additive is also reported. Nineteen alkynyl benziodoxol(on)es were synthesized and evaluated in the direct alkynylation of indoles and/or thiophenes. Bulky silyl groups as acetylene substituents were optimal. Nevertheless, transfer of aromatic acetylenes to thiophene was achieved for the first time. An accelerating effect of a methyl substituent in both the 3‐ and 6‐position of triisopropylsilylethynyl‐1,2‐benziodoxol‐3(1H)‐one (TIPS‐EBX) on the reaction rate was observed. Competitive experiments between substrates of different nucleophilicity, deuterium labeling experiments, as well as the regioselectivity observed are all in agreement with electrophilic aromatic substitution. Gold(III) 2‐pyridinecarboxylate dichloride was also an efficient catalyst for the reaction. Investigations indicated that gold(III) could be eventually reduced to gold(I) during the process. As a result of these investigations, a π activation or an oxidative mechanism are most probable for the alkynylation reaction.