LAUSR

We have discovered that 2,2-diazido acylacetates, a class of compounds with essentially unknown reactivity, can be coupled to amines through a new strategy that does not involve any reagents. 2,2-Diazido acetate is the unconventional leaving group under carbon–carbon bond cleavage. This reaction leads to the construction of amide bonds, tolerates various functionalities and is performed equally well in numerous solvents under experimentally simple conditions. We also demonstrate that the isolation of the 2,2-diazido acylacetate compounds can be circumvented: Acylacetates were easily fragmented when treated with (Bu4N)N3 and iodine in the presence of an amine at room temperature. By using this method, a broad range of acylacetates with various structural motifs were directly transformed into amides.