Employing thiocyanate salts as a nitrogen source via CN bond cleavage: divergent synthesis of α-ketoamides and 2-acyloxazoles

A switchable procedure for the synthesis of α-ketoamides and 2-acyloxazoles from aryl methyl ketones and thiocyanate salts is reported. This work discloses the first example of thiocyanate salts being used as amino surrogates via CN bond cleavage. This work enriches the applications of thiocyanate salts beyond limited use as ‘SCN’, ‘CN’, or ‘S’ resources. Furthermore, this work opens a fruitful avenue for the synthesis of α-ketoamides and 2-acyloxazoles in a process with additive-controlled chemoselectivity.