Formal Dearomative Hydroamination of 2‑Arylphenols

An acid-promoted dearomative rearrangement of <i>O</i>-arylhydroxylamines affords 2-aminocyclohexadien-1-ones, which can in turn be reductively quenched for the synthesis of <i>trans</i>-aminoalcohols on a cyclohexadiene core. This method serves as an efficient entry to the pharmaceutically relevant 1-arylcyclohexylamine scaffold in two steps (one purification) from commercially available or readily prepared 2-arylphenols.