LAUSR

Summary Until recently, the direct oxidative oxysulfonylation of carbonyl compounds was limited to ketones. Here, we report the first direct oxytriflation of simple, non-activated amides. Amide umpolung with triflic anhydride and pyridine-N-oxide in the absence of external nucleophiles directly leads to the formation of reactive α-triflates in a single step, which provides a platform for the deployment of valuable downstream α-functionalization reactions. The utility of this method was demonstrated by in situ clean conversion to their corresponding bromides, as desirable starting materials for nickel-catalyzed deracemizing enantioselective arylation. This approach not only enables a telescoped asymmetric arylation of unsubstituted amides but also extends its scope because of the broad chemoselectivity and functional group tolerance of the method.