Regioselective Organocatalytic Formation of Carbamates from Substituted Cyclic Carbonates

A highly regioselective catalytic approach has been developed towards carbamates derived from cyclic organic carbonates by reaction of the latter with amine reagents under organocatalytic control. For various combinations of carbonate and amine substrates, an organocatalyst (TBD: 1,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene) was used to increase the reaction kinetics while exerting excellent regioselective control. The current method is the first general approach towards the control over the regioselectivity of this reaction using a wide variety of easily accessed substituted organic carbonates.