Silver‐Catalyzed Chemoselective [4+2] Annulation of Two Isocyanides: A General Route to Pyridone‐Fused Carbo‐ and Heterocycles

Abstract

A silver-catalyzed chemoselective [4+2] annulation of aryl and heteroaryl isocyanides with α-substituted isocyanoacetamides was developed for the facile and efficient synthesis of 2-aminoquinolones, naphthyridines, and phenanthrolines. A mechanism for this multistep domino reaction is proposed on the basis of a ¹³ C-labeling experiment, according to which an unprecedented chemoselective heterodimerization of two different isocyanides generates an α-amidoketenimine intermediate, which undergoes 1,3-amino migration to form an α-imidoylketene, followed by 6 π electrocyclization.