Selective Cleavage of Inert Aryl C-N Bonds in N-Aryl Amides

A highly selective, IBX-promoted reaction has been developed for the oxidative cleavage of inert C(aryl)–N bonds on secondary amides while leaving the C(carbonyl)–N bond unchanged. This metal-free reaction proceeds under mild conditions (HFIP/H2O, 25 °C), providing facile access to various useful primary amides, some of which would be otherwise unattainable using conventional aminolysis and hydrolysis approaches.