Metal-Free Insertion of Sulfoxonium Ylides into Arylamines in Water.

Carbenoid-based N–H insertions have undergone significant development with respect to C–N bond formation in recent years. However, the existing methods suffer from unstable starting materials, expensive metal catalysts and organic solvents. Herein, insertion of sulfoxonium ylides into arylamines under metal-free conditions has been developed. The method employs water as solvent at mild temperature and is amenable to the late-stage modification of structurally complex bioactive compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]