Aminoarylation of alkynes using diarylanilines.

Intermolecular aminoarylation of alkynes is described, via addition of diarylanilines to alkynes and Smiles-Truce rearrangement. The transformation manipulates the C-N bond of anilines directly, with no requirement for organometallic reagents or transition metal catalysis. The enaminoate products are versatile building blocks for different classes of heterocycles.