Arylsulfonylacetamides as bifunctional reagents for alkene aminoarylation

Arenes and amides from a single source Pharmaceutical synthesis often requires the formation of adjacent carbon-carbon and carbon-nitrogen bonds. Monos et al. present a method that delivers the carbon and nitrogen components in a single reagent, specifically, an aryl ring tethered through sulfur dioxide to an amide. A light-activated catalyst primes an olefin to react with the nitrogen, which in turn leads to migration of the aryl ring and loss of the sulfur bridge. The efficient room-temperature process is applicable to a variety of different arenes, including heterocycles. Science , this issue p. 1369