Palladium-Catalyzed Aerobic α,β-Dehydrogenation of Aliphatic Amides.

A Pd(II)-catalyzed α,β-dehydrogenation of substituted aliphatic amides assisted by a reusable bis-chelating 8-aminoquinoline ligand is demonstrated. Broad spectra of β-substituted including olefin-substituted aliphatic amides are well tolerated. The present protocol efficiently dehydrogenates the less acidic aliphatic amides via the chelation-assisted β-C-H bond activation and replaces the traditional enolate-based strategy.