Palladium-catalyzed aminocarbonylation of alkynes to succinimides.

Succinimide derivatives are useful building blocks for the synthesis of natural products and drugs. We describe an efficient route to succinimide derivatives comprising Pd(xantphos)Cl2-catalyzed aminocarbonylation of alkynes with aromatic or aliphatic amines in the presence of p-TsOH. The utility of this route is demonstrated with the synthesis of a large number of succinimide compounds including an important photochromic molecule.