Electrophilic amidomethylation of arenes with DMSO/MeCN reagents?

Organic Chemistry Frontiers Pub Date: 2022-03-21 DOI: 10.1039/D2QO00181K

Abstract

An efficient electrophilic amidomethylation of aromatics was described to construct N-benzylic amides, which are core structures in drugs and natural products. The simple combination of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, as the CH2 unit) and acetonitrile (MeCN, as the nitrogen unit) as a highly active amidomethylation reagent enables the efficient C–C, C–N and C[double bond, length as m-dash]O bond construction. Notably, this method provides a practical protocol for the efficient preparation of deuterated benzylamine derivatives with easily available d6-DMSO or d3-MeCN, and is also applied in the concise synthesis of Nonivamide and Pimavanserin.

Graphical abstract: Electrophilic amidomethylation of arenes with DMSO/MeCN reagents
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