Metal-Free Conversion of Carboxamides to Ureas Using Tertiary Amines and Iodosylmesitylene

A new synthetic route has been developed for the preparation of ureas from the reaction of carboxamides with tertiary amines with the use of iodosylmesitylene as a stoichiometric oxidant. Although the reaction proceeds under the mild conditions to afford urea products in moderate yields, further optimization studies are required to improve the reaction efficiency and regioselectivity in the dealkylative pathway. Ureas are recognized as an important synthetic building unit, finding a wide range of applications in the preparation of agrochemicals, petrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals. In addition, hydrogen bond-mediated communication between ureas and certain types of compounds is an important structural motif in asymmetric catalysis, molecular recognition, and crystal engineering. Although numerous procedures have been developed for the urea synthesis, the most commonly employed strategy involves the reaction of amine precursors with phosgene, or its surrogates, isocyanates, or carbamates. Whereas these traditional methods are operative under conventional reaction conditions, they often lead to incomplete conversion. Additional drawback of these protocols is that unsymmetric ureas are difficult to prepare in many cases