Generation of iminyl copper species from alpha-azido carbonyl compounds and their catalytic C-C bond cleavage under an oxygen atmosphere.

A copper-catalyzed reaction of alpha-azidocarbonyl compounds under an oxygen atmosphere is reported where nitriles are formed via C-C bond cleavage of a transient iminyl copper intermediate. The transformation is carried out by a sequence of denitrogenative formation of iminyl copper species from alpha-azidocarbonyl compounds and their C-C bond cleavage, where molecular oxygen (1 atm) is a prerequisite to achieve the catalytic process and one of the oxygen atoms of O(2) was found to be incorporated into the beta-carbon fragment as a carboxylic acid.