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A user-friendly, nickel-catalyzed reductive amidation of unactivated primary, secondary, and tertiary alkyl bromides with isocyanates is described. This catalytic strategy offers an efficient synthesis of a wide range of aliphatic amides under mild conditions and with an excellent chemoselectivity profile while avoiding the use of stoichiometric and sensitive organometallic reagents.

Improving the synthesis of complex organic molecules is essential for progress in many fields such as medicine, agrochemicals or materials. Since 2007, our laboratory has been focusing on the development of non-classical bond disconnections based on the use of small, energy-loaded organic molecules: hypervalent iodine reagents and strained rings. In this overview article, we report our progress since 2011 in these areas. The use of cyclic hypervalent iodine reagents has been extended to the C2-selective alkynylation of indoles, the domino cyclization alkynylation of allenes, the alkynylation of thiols and the azidation of carbonyl compounds. Amino-substituted aminocyclopropanes and aminocyclobutanes were used in [3+2] and [4+2] annulations to access nitrogen-rich building blocks, including nucleoside analogues. The first example of dynamic kinetic [3+2] annulation of aminocyclopropanes with both enol ethers and aldehydes was also reported.

In this Letter, we describe the synthesis of new donor-acceptor substituted cyclopropanes bearing various imido groups and their use in [3+2]-annulation reactions. A sequence of palladium-catalyzed vinylation and rhodium-catalyzed cyclopropanation gave access to the required cyclopropanes in only two steps and high overall yields. The obtained compounds were used successfully in the tin-catalyzed [3+2] annulation with enol ethers to give cyclopentylamine derivatives in 22–95% yield.

(Carbo) nucleoside derivatives constitute an important class of pharmaceuticals, yet there are only few convergent methods to access new analogues. Here, we report the first synthesis of thymine-, uracil-, and 5-fluorouracil-substituted diester donor-acceptor cyclopropanes and their use in the indium-and tin-catalyzed [3+2] annulations with aldehydes, ketones, and enol ethers. The obtained diester products could be easily decarboxylated and reduced to the corresponding alcohols. The method gives access to a broad range of new (carbo) nucleoside analogues in only four or five steps and will be highly useful for the synthesis of libraries of bioactive compounds.

The title reaction proceeds with both enol ethers and aldehydes using Cu and a commercially available bisoxazoline ligand.

Cyclization and annulation reactions initiated by ring-opening of small rings, especially cyclopropanes and cyclobutanes are now well-established in synthetic chemistry. Nevertheless, the potential of aminocyclopropanes and cyclobutanes, an important subclass for the synthesis of nitrogen-rich building blocks, has remained unexploited for a long time, despite important pioneering results. In the last decade, the situation has changed dramatically and new catalytic methods have emerged both for cyclization and annulation reactions. The purpose of this feature article is to present recent progress in this area, including our own work using donor-acceptor cyclopropanes and cyclobutanes.