Amination of Carbenium Ions Generated by Directed Protonolysis of Cyclopropane.

Directed intramolecular protonolyis of the cyclopropane C-C bond is demonstrated as a strategy to generate carbenium ions. This intermediate can be subjected to amination with nitriles under Ritter reaction conditions. Directing groups such as carbamate, carboxamide, urea, ester, and ketone were found to be efficient for regioselective anti-Markovnikov cleavage of cyclopropane. Depending on the directing group, the amination provided orthogonally protected 1,4-diamine, ε-amino carboxylic, and ε-amino ketone derivatives.