Mild, Rhodium-Catalyzed Intramolecular Hydroamination of Unactivated Terminal and Internal Olefins with Primary and Secondary Amines.

We report a series of mild, rhodium-catalyzed hydroaminations of unactivated olefins with primary and secondary alkylamines to form the corresponding five- and six-membered products in excellent yields. The reactions form exclusively the product from hydroamination without competitive oxidative amination or olefin isomerization with catalysts generated from a biaryl dialkyl phosphine and an analogue of Xantphos. A variety of functional groups were tolerated by the hydroamination process, including hydroxyl, halo, cyano, and carboalkoxyl groups.