N‑Acylsaccharins as Amide-Based Arylating Reagents via Chemoselective N–C Cleavage: Pd-Catalyzed Decarbonylative Heck Reaction

Palladium-catalyzed decarbonylative Heck reaction of amides by chemoselective N–C activation using N-acylsaccharins as coupling partners has been accomplished. These studies represent only the second example of amide-Heck reactions reported to date. A broad range of electronically diverse amide and olefin coupling partners is amenable to this transformation. Orthogonal site-selective Heck cross-couplings by C–Br/N–C cleavage and mechanistic studies are reported. This report introduces readily available, bench-stable, cheap, and benign N-acylsaccharins as aryl transfer reagents to access versatile aryl-metal intermediates.