Sulfonyl and phosphoryl azides: going further beyond the click realm of alkyl and aryl azides.

Whereas alkyl and aryl azides readily react with terminal alkynes to afford 1,4-disubstituted-1,2,3-triazoles in excellent yields and selectivity in the presence of a copper catalyst, sulfonyl, phosphoryl, and certain acyl azides allow additional chemistry upon ring-opening of the corresponding copper-triazole intermediates. The amazingly versatile new chemistry stems from the high reactivity of a ring-opened ketenimine intermediate, with which a wide range of nucleophiles react to give multicomponent products. Among those nucleophiles, amines, alcohols, water, and heterocyclic compounds are especially capable of being involved in this new chemistry.