Co(III)-Catalyzed Enaminone-Directed C–H Amidation for Quinolone Synthesis

We report herein the development of a Co(III)-catalyzed enaminone-directed C–H amidation method for synthetic access to quinolones, an important heterocyclic scaffold for diverse pharmaceutically active structures. The C–H coupling with dioxazolones and subsequent deacylation of an installed amide group allow consecutive C–N coupling generation of quinolones with wide-ranging compatible substituent patterns.