A copper-catalyzed electrophilic, umpolung amination strategy for the direct C-H amination of polyfluoroarenes and 1,3-azoles has been developed. The copper-based amination reaction is robust and can be easily scaled up on a gram scale. Its application to an annulative electrophilic amination of o-alkynylphenols and -anilines for the synthesis of 3-aminobenzofurans and -indoles is also described.
A copper-catalyzed annulative amination approach to 3-aminobenzofurans and -indoles from o-alkynylphenols and -anilines has been developed. The Cu-based catalysis is based on an umpolung, electrophilic amination with O-benzoyl hydroxylamines and enables the mild and convergent synthesis of various 3-aminobenzoheteroles of biological and pharmaceutical interest. Some mechanistic investigations and an application of this protocol to construction of more complex tricyclic framework are also described.