Developing a straightforward route toward the synthesis of arylaminomaleimides by palladium-catalyzed arylation of one-pot synthesized aminomaleimides.

3-Aryl-4-aminomaleimides have well-demonstrated applications, such as being used as fluorophores and inhibitors. However, their previous synthesis methods have involved tedious multi-step procedures or methods that need pre-functionalized maleimides and toxic or unstable reagents. Here, a feasible method is developed to synthesize these useful compounds.