The first example of Re(IV)-mediated nitrile-hydroxylamine coupling

The metal-mediated coupling between the acetonitriles in cis-[ReIVCl4(MeCN)2] and the N,N-dibenzylhydroxylamines R23NOH (R3 = CH2Ph, CH2C6H4C1-p) proceeds smoothly in CH2Cl2/MeCN at 20-25 °C for ca. 15 min to accomplish new imino species cis-[ReCl4{NHC(Me)ONR23}2] (R3 = CH2Ph, 1, CH2C6H4C1-p, 2) in ca. 70% yield. The structures of the isolated compounds were based on elemental analyses (C, H, N), IR, FAB+-MS and on X-ray data for 1.