Palladium-Catalyzed Intermolecular Azidocarbonylation of Alkenes via a Cooperative Strategy.

A novel intermolecular β-azidocarbonylation reaction of alkenes has been developed in which a combination of iodine(III)-mediated alkene activation and palladium-catalyzed carbonylation was demonstrated as an efficient strategy for the difunctionalization of alkenes. A variety of β-azido carboxylic esters were obtained from mono- and 1,1-disubstituted terminal alkenes with excellent regioselectivities. In addition, the introduced azido group can be reduced to an amine group, providing a facile access to β-amino acid derivatives from simple olefins.