.................................................................................................................................................. ii Aknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. iii List of Abbreviations ...............................................................................................................................vi List of Figures ........................................................................................................................................ viii List of Schemes ....................................................................................................................................... ix List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................ x Chapter 1: Alkene Aminocarbonylation in Heterocyclic synthesis ....................................................... 1 1.1 Aminocarbonylation ...................................................................................................................... 3 1.1.1 Metal-Catalyzed Aminocarbonylation in Heterocyclic synthesis ........................................... 4 1.1.2 Alkene Aminocarbonylation with Chlorosulfonyl-isocyanate .............................................. 10 1.2 N-Substituted isocyanates .......................................................................................................... 11 1.3 Alkene Aminocarbonylation with imino-isocyanates ................................................................. 17 1.3.1 Investigation into Base Catalysis ......................................................................................... 18 1.4 Project Objectives ........................................................................................................................ 21 Chapter 2: Development of Mild Alkene Aminocarbonylation ........................................................... 22 2.1 Base Catalysis: Optimization with Dihydrofuran ......................................................................... 22 2.2 Extension of scope for base catalysis .......................................................................................... 24 2.3 Alkene Aminocarbonylation with enol ethers ............................................................................ 26 2.4 Alkene aminocarbonylation with enamines ............................................................................... 32 2.5 Exploration of base catalysis on intramolecular aminocarbonylation reactions ........................ 34 2.6 Conclusions for Chapter 2 ............................................................................................................ 38 Chapter 3: Synthesis of Pyrazolones .................................................................................................... 40 3.