Transition metal-catalyzed unimolecular fragment coupling (UFC) is defined as processes that forge new chemical bonds through the extrusion of molecules, such as CO and CO2, and the subsequent recombination of the remaining fragments. Herein, we report on a new UFC reaction that involves the palladium-catalyzed elimination of an isocyanate fragment from an amide, with the formation of carbon–carbon and carbon–heteroatom bonds. An organometallic intermediate that is relevant to the catalytic reaction was characterized by X-ray crystallography. This UFC reaction enables the late-stage transformation of an amide functionality, allowing amides to be used as a convertible directing or protecting group.

Page 11037. The required annotation for compound 6j in Table 4 was inadvertently missing in our original manuscript. Footnote c has been added to 6j to note that a higher reaction temperature and a longer reaction time were required for this specific substrate, as given below.This information is also included in the revised Supporting Information. ■ ASSOCIATED CONTENT* sı Supporting InformationThe Supporting Information is available free of charge at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.2c06657.Detailed experimental procedures, characterization of new compounds, and computational details (corrected) (PDF)