Complementary Oxidative Generation of Iminyl Radicals from α-Imino-oxy Acids: Silver-Catalyzed C–H Cyanoalkylation of Heterocycles and Quinones

A complementary and general strategy for the oxidative generation of iminyl radicals from the readily available α-imino-oxy acids has been established through silver-catalyzed decarboxylation. To demonstrate its synthesis utility, the direct C–H cyanoalkylation of heterocycles and quinones with cyclic α-imino-oxy acids via the iminyl radical-mediated C–C bond cleavage is developed. This cost-effective method takes place under mild reaction conditions and exhibits a broad substrate scope.