Harnessing Stereospecific Z-Enamides through Silver-Free Cp*Rh(III) Catalysis by Using Isoxazoles as Masked Electrophiles.

The stereospecific synthesis of Z-enamides is described in this paper. For the first time, isoxazoles have been employed as electrophiles in C-H functionalization to afford thermodynamically less stable Z-enamides utilizing salicylaldehydes in an atom- and step-economic fashion. The stereochemistry of enamides might originate from the relative disposition of atoms present in isoxazole and the intramolecular hydrogen bonding. The reaction showed excellent scope as several structurally and electronically diverse salicylaldehydes and isoxazoles reacted efficiently.