Synthetic chemistry aims to build up molecular complexity from simple feedstocks¹. However, the ability to exert precise changes that manipulate the connectivity of the molecular skeleton itself remains limited, despite possessing substantial potential to expand the accessible chemical space^2,3. Here we report a reaction that ‘deletes’ nitrogen from organic molecules. We show that N-pivaloyloxy-N-alkoxyamides, a subclass of anomeric amides, promote the intermolecular activation of secondary aliphatic amines to yield intramolecular carbon–carbon coupling products. Mechanistic experiments indicate that the reactions proceed via isodiazene intermediates that extrude the nitrogen atom as dinitrogen, producing short-lived diradicals that rapidly couple to form the new carbon–carbon bond. The reaction shows broad functional-group tolerance, which enables the translation of routine amine synthesis protocols into a strategy for carbon–carbon bond constructions and ring syntheses. This is highlighted by the use of this reaction in the syntheses and skeletal editing of bioactive compounds.

^{合成化学旨在从简单的原料1}建立分子复杂性。然而，尽管具有扩大可访问化学空间^2,3的巨大潜力，但施加精确变化以操纵分子骨架本身的连接性的能力仍然有限。在这里，我们报告了一种从有机分子中“删除”氮的反应。我们证明了N -pivaloyloxy- N-烷氧基酰胺是异头酰胺的一个子类，它促进脂肪族仲胺的分子间活化以产生分子内碳-碳偶联产物。机理实验表明，反应通过异二氮烯中间体进行，该中间体将氮原子挤出为二氮，产生短寿命的双自由基，它们迅速偶联形成新的碳-碳键。该反应显示出广泛的官能团耐受性，这使得常规胺合成方案能够转化为碳-碳键结构和环合成的策略。通过在生物活性化合物的合成和骨架编辑中使用该反应突出了这一点。