Catalytic one-pot synthesis of cyclic amidines by virtue of tandem reactions involving intramolecular hydroamination under mild conditions.

A new synthetic methodology for the generation of cyclic amidines has been developed by the reaction of 1,n-aminoalkynes with electron-deficient azides using a ruthenium catalyst at ambient temperature. The reaction proceeds most likely via a tandem sequence of intramolecular hydroamination of aminoalkynes, cycloaddition of azides with the resulting enamines, and rearrangement of triazoline intermediates. It demonstrates, as the proof-of-principle, that an equilibria cascade sequence can be favorably driven by an irreversible step, thus enabling a facile one-pot synthetic route to deliver molecular complexity under unprecedented mild conditions without relying on the traditional linear approaches.