Sequential Reduction of Nitroalkanes Mediated by CS and Amidine/Guanidine Bases: A Controllable Nef Reaction.

In this letter, we describe a mild, functional group-tolerant reductive Nef reaction that utilizes CS and an amidine or guanidine base to sequentially cleave N-O bonds. These conditions transform secondary nitroalkanes to ketones via an isolable oxime with minimal erosion at labile stereogenic carbons, show excellent compatibility with groups sensitive to oxidizing or reducing conditions, display good scalability, and are well-suited for generating useful 3-pyrrolidinone motifs from readily accessible 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition products.