Facile synthesis of oxazolidinones catalyzed by n-Bu4NBr3/n-Bu4NBr directly from olefins, chloramine-T and carbon dioxide

A binary catalyst system composed of n-Bu4NBr3/n-Bu4NBr was developed for facile synthesis of 5-substituted 2-oxazolidinones with perfect regioselectivity in a single operation directly from olefins, chloramine-T and CO2. The choice of efficient binary catalysts for two steps, i.e. aziridination and cycloaddition, and the optimization of reaction condition are keys to the one-pot synthesis of 5-substituted 2-oxazolidinones. A possible mechanism for the present one-pot synthesis of oxazolidinones was also proposed.