Palladium-Catalyzed Norbornene-Mediated Tandem ortho-C-H-Amination/ipso-C-I-Cyanation of Iodoarenes: Regiospecific Synthesis of 2-Aminobenzonitrile.

Efficient tandem ortho-C-H-amination/ipso-cyanation of iodoarenes was accomplished under a norbornene-mediated Pd-catalyzed process. A series of functionalized 2-aminobenzonitriles with much potential in the pharmaceutical industry were obtained by this protocol. This strategy was successfully employed for substitution with two cyano and four amino functionalities in an arene unit in one step under specified conditions.