Copper catalyzed oxidative coupling of amines with formamides: a new approach for the synthesis of unsymmetrical urea derivativesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Detailed experimental procedures and analytical data. See DOI: 10.1039/c3cc42381f

Direct access to unsymmetrical urea derivatives via copper catalysed CH/NH coupling of formamides with amines has been developed at room temperature. This protocol is also applied to the synthesis of chiral urea derivatives. We report a new protocol for the synthesis of unsymmetrical urea derivatives via oxidative cross coupling chemistry involving CH/NH activation at room temperature using copper as a catalyst.