Silylcupration and Copper-Catalyzed Carbomagnesiation of Ynamides: Application to Aza-Claisen Rearrangement

Treatment of ynamides with silylcopper reagents resulted in silylcupration to afford (E)-β-silylenamides, after protonolysis, in good yields with high regio- and stereoselectivity. Reaction of ynamides having an allyl group on the nitrogen with Grignard reagents in the presence of a copper catalyst resulted in carbomagnesiation across the alkynyl unit and subsequent heating provided 4-pentenenitriles via aza-Claisen rearrangement.