Palladium-catalyzed oxidative C-H bond acylation of N-nitrosoanilines with toluene derivatives: a traceless approach to synthesize N-alkyl-2-aminobenzophenones.

A palladium-catalyzed cascade cross-coupling of N-nitroso-anilines and toluene derivatives for the direct synthesis of N-alkyl-2-aminobenzophenones is described. N-nitroso groups in anilines can act as the traceless directing groups while toluene derivatives can serve as effective acyl precursors under mild reaction conditions.