Rh(III)-Catalyzed Alkene <i>Anti</i> Nucleoamidation to Access Diverse Heterocycles

Alkene difunctionalization methods are an attractive way to rapidly build molecular complexity using readily available starting materials. One common approach is transition metal-catalyzed nucleometalation, which converts the C-C double bond to a C-Nu bond and a C-M bond. Commonly, a tethered nucleophile is used in order to form pharmaceutically relevant heterocyclic cores in this manner. The resulting alkylmetal species can then be further functionalized in a number of ways. While methods exist to aminate the C-M bond, direct installation of valuable amides is rare. Additionally, nucleometalation methods are often limited to the use of a single type of nucleophile. Herein we disclose a general method for the Rh(III)-catalyzed nucleoamidation of alkenes, forming a variety of heterocyclic cores.