Copper-promoted synthesis of 1,4-benzodiazepinones via alkene diamination.

A new method for the synthesis of 2-aminomethyl functionalized 1,4-benzodiazepin-5-ones is presented. The benzodiazepine core is well-known to interact with biological receptors and many pharmaceutical drugs are derived from this structure. The alkene diamination strategy is employed for the first time for the synthesis of 1,4-benzodiazepinones. In this reaction, copper(2-ethylhexanoate)2 serves as promoter and a range of external amines can be coupled with 2-sulfonamido-N-allyl benzamides to generate the 1,4-benzodiazepinones in good yields.