C-H and N-H Bond Annulation of Benzamides with Isonitriles Catalyzed by Cobalt(III)

A simple efficient, atom-economical procedure was developed for the cobalt-catalyzed C-H bond annulation of benzamides with isonitriles under mild conditions. The reaction tolerates a variety of functional group including heterocycles. Diverse 3-(alkylimino)-2-quinolin-8-yl-2,3-dihydro-1H-isoindol-1-ones were synthesized using isonitriles as the C1 source through C-H and N-H bond annulation via C-H bond activation in a 'green' solvent. Vinylamides were also used similarly with tert-butyl isonitrile to give 3-(tert-butylimino)-1-quinolin-8-yl-1H-pyrrol-2(5H)-ones.