Metal-free N-iodosuccinimide-catalyzed mild oxidative C–H bond amination of benzoxazoles

A facile, efficient, and mild protocol for the synthesis of aminobenzoxazoles has been developed using direct oxidative C–H bond amination of benzoxazoles with secondary or primary amines. The reaction was performed using catalytic amount of N-iodosuccinimide and aqueous hydrogen peroxide as a green oxidant and in the absence of transition metals. Reaction proceeds smoothly at ambient temperature and requires shorter reaction time to furnish excellent yield of the desired products. Various cyclic, acyclic, and functionalized aliphatic amines were well tolerated under optimized reaction conditions and provided good to excellent yield of the respective aminobenzoxazoles.