Organic N-containing compounds, including amines, are essential components of many biologically and pharmaceutically important molecules. One strategy for introducing nitrogen into substrates with multiple reactive bonds is to insert a monovalent N fragment (nitrene or nitrenoid) into a C–H bond or add it directly to a C=C bond. However, it has been challenging to develop well-defined catalysts capable of promoting predictable and chemoselective aminations solely through reagent control. Herein, we report remarkable chemoselective aminations that employ a single metal (Ag) and a single ligand (phenanthroline) to promote either aziridination or C–H insertion by manipulating the coordination geometry of the active catalysts.

The development of readily tunable and regioselective C–H functionalization reactions that operate solely through catalyst control remains a challenge in modern organic synthesis. Herein, we report that simple silver catalysts supported by common nitrogenated ligands can be used to tune a nitrene transfer reaction between two different types of C–H bonds. The results reported herein represent the first example of ligand-controlled and site-selective silver-promoted C–H amination.

Catalyst-controlled, selective nitrene transfer is often challenging when both C−H and CC bonds are present in a substrate. Interestingly, a simple change in the Ag(I):L ratio (L = bidentate N,N-donor ligand) enables tunable, chemoselective nitrene transfer that favors either C C bond aziridination using an ∼1:1 Ag:L ratio (AgLOTf) or insertion into a C−H bond when the Ag:L ratio in the catalyst is 1:2 (AgL 2 OTf). In this paper, mechanistic studies, coupled with kinetic profiling of the entire reaction course, are employed to examine the reasons for this unusual behavior. Steady-state kinetics were found to be similar for both AgLOTf and AgL 2 OTf; both complexes yield electronically similar reactive intermediates that engage in nitrene transfer involving formation of a short-lived radical intermediate and barrierless radical recombination. Taken together, experimental and computational studies point to two effects that control tunable chemoselectivity: suppression of aziridination as the steric congestion around the silver center is increased in AgL 2 OTf and a decrease in the rate of C−H insertion with AgLOTf in comparison to AgL 2 OTf. The observation that the sterics of Ag catalysts can be varied, with minor effects on the electronic features of the putative nitrene, has important implications for the development of other silver catalysts that enable tunable, site-selective C−H bond aminations.

Carbon-nitrogen (C-N) bonds are ubiquitous in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, diverse bioactive natural products, and ligands for transition metal catalysts. An effective strategy for introducing a new C-N bond into a molecule is through transition metal-catalyzed nitrene transfer chemistry. In these reactions, a metal-supported nitrene can either add across a C═C bond to form an aziridine or insert into a C-H bond to furnish the corresponding amine. Typical catalysts for nitrene transfer include RhL and RuL complexes supported by bridging carboxylate and related ligands, as well as complexes based on Cu, Co, Ir, Fe, and Mn supported by porphyrins and related ligands. A limitation of metal-catalyzed nitrene transfer is the ability to predictably select which specific site will undergo amination in the presence of multiple reactive groups; thus, many reactions rely primarily on substrate control. Achieving true catalyst-control over nitrene transfer would open up exciting possibilities for flexible installation of new C-N bonds into hydrocarbons, natural product-inspired scaffolds, existing pharmaceuticals or biorenewable building blocks. Silver-catalyzed nitrene transfer enables flexible control over the position at which a new C-N bond is introduced. Ag(I) supported by simple N-donor ligands accommodates a diverse range of coordination geometries, from linear to tetrahedral to seesaw, enabling the electronic and steric parameters of the catalyst to be tuned independently. In addition, the ligand, Ag salt counteranion, Ag/ligand ratio and the solvent all influence the fluxional and dynamic behavior of Ag(I) complexes in solution. Understanding the interplay of these parameters to manipulate the behavior of Ag-nitrenes in a predictable manner is a key design feature of our work. In this Account, we describe successful applications of a variety of design principles to tunable, Ag-catalyzed aminations, including (1) changing Ag/ligand ratios to influence chemoselectivity, (2) manipulating the steric environment of the catalyst to achieve site-selective C-H bond amination, (3) promoting noncovalent interactions between Ag/substrate or substrate/ligand to direct C-H functionalization, and (4) dictating the substrate's trajectory of approach to the Ag-nitrene. Our catalysts distinguish between the aminations of various types of C-H bonds, including tertiary C(sp)-H, benzylic, allylic, and propargylic C-H bonds. Efforts in asymmetric nitrene transfer reactions catalyzed by Ag(I) complexes are also described.

Tunable, Chemoselective Amination via Silver Catalysis. -A chemoselective amination of homoallylic and homoallenic carbamates solely through control of the catalyst/ligand ratio is reported. A simple Ag-based catalyst combined with phenanthroline as ligand is capable to favor either aziridination or C-H insertion. -(RIGOLI, J. W.; WEATHERLY, C. D.; ALDERSON, J. M.; VO, B. T.; SCHOMAKER*, J. M.; J. Am. Chem. Soc. 135 (2013) 46, 17238-17241, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja406654y ; Dep. Chem., Univ. Wis., Madison, WI 53706, USA; Eng.) -H. Haber 23-042