“…At the same time, two other possible pathways were also considered, involving the commonly recommended N−H insertion of Rh carbenes (Figure 2). As shown by the red line in Figure 2, an ion pair intermediate A-2a may also undergo a BnOH-assisted [1,2]-H shift after the dissociation of Rh 2 (OAc) 4 , via transition state A-TSa3-3 with a 21.3 kcal/mol barrier, resulting in N−H insertion product A-3a-1. Furthermore, the elimination of BnOH from A-3a-1 to produce A-3a requires 35.5 kcal/mol (A-TSa4-2), which is energetically unfeasible at a temperature of −20 °C.…”