Highly regioselective Pd-catalyzed intermolecular aminoacetoxylation of alkenes and evidence for cis-aminopalladation and S(N)2 C-O bond formation.

Synthetic methods that achieve oxidative 1,2-difunctionalization of alkenes are very powerful in organic chemistry. Here we report the first examples of intermolecular Pd-catalyzed aminoacetoxylation of alkenes with phthalimide as the nitrogen source and PhI(OAc)2 as the stoichiometric oxidant and source of acetate. These reactions are highly regio- and diastereoselective, and mechanistic studies reveal that the reaction proceeds via cis-aminopalladation of the alkene followed by oxidative cleavage of the intermediate Pd-C bond with inversion of stereochemistry.