Catalytic ipso-Nitration of Organosilanes Enabled by Electrophilic N-Nitrosaccharin Reagent

Nitroaromatic compounds represent one of the essential classes of molecules that are widely used as feedstock for the synthesis of intermediates, the preparation of nitro-derived pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and materials on both laboratory and industrial scales. We herein disclose the efficient, mild, and catalytic ipso-nitration of organotrimethylsilanes, enabled by an electrophilic N-nitrosaccharin reagent and allows chemoselective nitration under mild reaction conditions, while exhibiting remarkable substrate generality and functional group compatibility. Additionally, the reaction conditions proved to be orthogonal to other common functionalities, allowing programming of molecular complexity via successive transformations or late-stage nitration. Detailed mechanistic investigation by experimental and computational approaches strongly supported a classical electrophilic aromatic substitution (S_E Ar) mechanism, which was found to proceed through a highly ordered transition state.