Synthesis of Amidines from Amides Using a Nickel-Catalyzed Decarbonylative Amination through CO Extrusion Intramolecular Recombination Fragment Coupling.

A catalytic synthesis of amidines from amides has been established for the first time. The newly developed CO extrusion recombination process takes advantage of an inexpensive nickel(II) catalyst and provides the corresponding amidines with high efficiency. The intramolecular fragment coupling shows excellent chemoselectivity, starts from readily available amides, and provides a valuable alternative amidine synthesis protocol.