Synthesis of enaminones via copper-catalyzed decarboxylative coupling reaction under redox-neutral conditions.

A novel copper-catalyzed C(sp3)-H oxidative functionalization of aromatic oxime acetates with α-oxocarboxylic acids was reported. This process involved N-O/C-C bond cleavages and C-C bond formations to furnish substituted enaminones under redox-neutral conditions. The oxime acetates served as both reactants and internal oxidants. Furthermore, this transformation also features good functional group tolerance and needs no ligands or additional bases.