Direct Imidation to Construct 1<i>H</i>‐Benzo[<i>d</i>]imidazole through Pd^II‐Catalyzed CH Activation Promoted by Thiourea

Abstract

A new and straightforward method to construct 1H-benzo[d]imidazole was developed by means of PdII-catalyzed intramolecular CH activation starting from easily available N-phenylbenzimidamide (see scheme). The detailed mechanism studies indicated that a palladacycle monomer or dimer is the key intermediate for this transformation and thiourea was used for the first time to promote the efficiency of CH activation.