A novel isocyanide/Ag₂CO₃-promoted addition of heteroatoms to alkynes under mild conditions

A facile and practical isocyanide/Ag₂CO₃-promoted atom-economic addition of heteroatoms to alkynes has been developed for the construction of high-value scaffolds. In contrast to the reported methods, this strategy featured efficient and green characteristics, e.g., broad functional group compatibility, rapid and quantitative conversion, use of an eco-friendly solvent (EtOH), and an isocyanide/Ag₂CO₃ catalytic transformation. Moreover, the catalyst loading of Ag₂CO₃ could be decreased to 1 mol% with the aid of isocyanide. Therefore, in principle, numerous common classes of additions of a nucleophilic element-hydrogen to alkynes could likewise be amenable to this catalyst system.