NIS-promoted guanylation of amines

An efficient NIS-promoted guanylation reaction is described. This procedure allows the guanylation of primary and secondary amines through the reaction with di-Boc-thiourea and di-Boc-S-methylisothiourea, respectively. We demonstrated that the use of NIS compares favorably with existing methods and is an attractive alternative to heavy metal or Mukayama’s reagent activation.