Pd-catalyzed intramolecular aminohydroxylation of alkenes with hydrogen peroxide as oxidant and water as nucleophile.

A palladium-catalyzed intramolecular aminohydroxylation of alkenes was developed, in which H2O2 was applied as the sole oxidant. A variety of related alkyl alcohols could be successfully obtained with good yields and excellent diastereoselectivities, which directly derived from oxidation cleavage of alkyl C-Pd bond by H2O2. Facile transformation of these products provided a powerful tool toward the synthesis of 2-amino-1,3-diols and 3-ol amino acids. Preliminary mechanistic studies revealed that major nucleophilic attack of water (S(N)2 type) at high-valent Pd center contributes to the final C-O(H) bond formation.