D-Glucosamine as an efficient ligand for the copper-catalyzed selective synthesis of anilines from aryl halides and NaN<inf>3</inf>

D-Glucosamine is introduced for the first time as a green ligand with copper in a coupling reaction to synthesize anilines. The reaction proceeds in a domino fashion by the in situ reduction of aryl azides formed from aryl halides and NaN3. The high water solubility of the ligand enables easy catalyst removal. © 2011 The Royal Society of Chemistry.