Dearomative syn-1,2-Diamination of Benzene and Naphthalene

We report the palladium-catalyzed, dearomative syn-1,2-diamination of the non-activated arenes benzene and naphthalene using aryl isocyanates. This reaction proceeds with exclusive syn-1,2-selectivity and provides a complementary regio- and stereoselectivity to previously described arenophile-based transformations. The products are amenable to further synthetic elaboration, including selective diene functionalization and heterocycle cleavage. Overall, this dearomatization provides synthetic access to unprecedented saturated nitrogen-containing heterocyclic motifs and syn-1,2-diaminated cyclohexane products.