Deaminative carbonylative coupling of alkylamines with styrenes under transition-metal-free conditions

A transition-metal-free deaminative carbonylation of alkylamines with styrenes has been developed. The reaction shows good functional group compatibility and various α,β-unsaturated ketones were obtained in moderate to good yields. The alkyl radical generated from Katritzky salts via base-promoted C-N bond cleavage is one of the key intermediates in this reaction.