A Hydrazine Insertion Route to N′‑Alkyl Benzohydrazides by an Unexpected Carbon–Carbon Bond Cleavage

A serendipitous carbon–carbon bond cleavage in the reaction of benzoyl acrylates, derived from Morita–Baylis–Hillman adducts, with hydrazines delivered new N′,N′-disubstituted benzohydrazides. The reaction features a regioselective formation of two carbon–nitrogen bonds and works well with a range of acrylates and hydrazines. A brief mechanistic investigation alluded to a cyclic hemiaminal as a plausible intermediate.