Synthesis of unsaturated seven-membered ring lactams through palladium-catalyzed amination and intramolecular cyclocarbonylation reactions of amines and Baylis-Hillman acetates.

A versatile synthesis of unsaturated seven-membered ring lactams has been developed. The sequence involves hydroamination of Baylis-Hillman acetate with amines, followed by intramolecular cyclocarbonylation reactions of the resulting allylamines. This process can tolerate a wide array of functional groups, and affords lactams in excellent yields.