Towards a Sequential One-Pot Preparation of 1,2,3-Benzotriazin-4(3H)-ones Employing a Key Cp*Co(III)-catalyzed C-H Amidation Step

1,2,3-benzotriazin-4(3H)-one derivatives have been recognised for their potential application as pesticides and pharmaceuticals and new methodologies for their preparation, starting from readily accessible reagents would therefore be an attractive proposition. A wide range of differently substituted benzamides are readily available, which provide an excellent substrate scaffold for the application of direct C-H functionalization protocols. In this context, herein we report the use of a Cp*Co(III) catalyst for the amidation of these benzamides, using 1,4,2-dioxazol-5-ones as amidating agent. The isolable intermediate 2-acetamido benzamide products can thereafter be converted to the desired 1,2,3-benzotriazin-4(3H)-one derivatives through the use of tert-butyl nitrite under mild conditions. It was found to be possible to perform the second step with the crude reaction mixture obtained from the initial C-H amidation step, leading to the overall development of a facile one-pot procedure for the preparation of a range of substituted 1,2,3-benzotriazin-4(3H)-one derivatives, requiring only 5 hours of reaction time, which is also applicable on a gram scale. In addition, the key Cp*Co(III)-catalyzed C-H amidation step has been studied by DFT calculations in order to fully elucidate the mechanism.