Synthesis of 2-aminothiazoles via rhodium-catalyzed carbenoid insertion/annulation of sulfoxonium ylides with thioureas

Sulfoxonium ylides as carbene precursors couple smoothly with thioureas in the presence of 5 mol% of rhodium(II) acetate dimmer via carbenoid insertion to afford the corresponding 2-aminothiazoles with high chemoselectivity, providing a facile and efficient approach to access a variety of 2-aminothiazole derivatives with good functional groups tolerance.