Cyanide-Free Synthesis of Air Stable N-Substituted Li and K Cyanamide Salts from Tetrazoles. Applications toward the Synthesis of Primary and Secondary Cyanamides as Precursors to Amidines.

A practical two-step synthesis of N,N'-disubstituted cyanamides consists in the low-temperature metalation of N-substituted 5H-tetrazoles that undergo spontaneous cycloreversion at 0 °C releasing dinitrogen, and forming N-metalated cyanamides that can be reacted in situ with a variety of electrophiles. Remarkably, the N-substituted Li and K cyanamides are air stable white solids at room temperature. Addition of lithium organometallics to the N,N'-disubstituted cyanamides provides a new method for accessing N,N'-disubstituted amidines.