The phosphate–carboxylate mixed-anhydride method: a mild, efficient process for ester and amide bond construction

Divergent Electrochemical Carboamidation of Cyclic Amines

We developed an electrochemical carboamidation sequence that affords either cyclic β-amidoamine products via direct functionalization or linear hydroxybisamide products via a ring opening pathway. The reaction pathway was dependent on the nature of the N-acyl activating group, with carbamate groups favoring direct isocyanide addition to the N-acyliminium ion intermediate and the benzoyl activating group favoring the ring opening-functionalization pathway. Both protocols are one-pot reaction sequences, have general applicability, and lead to peptide-like products of greatly increased molecular complexity.

Strategic Utilization of Multifunctional Carbene for Direct Synthesis of Carboxylic-Phosphinic Mixed Anhydride from CO2

Direct synthesis of carboxylic-phosphinic mixed anhydrides has been achieved by treating carbon dioxide with N-phosphine oxide-substituted imidazolylidenes (PoxIms) that contain both nucleophilic carbene and electrophilic phosphorus moieties. This novel mixed anhydride was efficiently derivatized into an ester, an amide, and an unsymmetrical ketone via transformation into its corresponding imidazolium salt followed by a dual substitution reaction. The presented work used well-designed multifunctional carbene reagents to establish a novel utility for carbon dioxide in organic synthesis.