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The carbamate carbonyl oxygen attacks electrophilic sulfur of triflic anhydride, with cleavage of the anhydride S–O bond to release triflate. Donation of the nitrogen lone pair toward the carbonyl carbon then gives the indicated imidoyl-type cation: the former carbonyl oxygen now bears Tf, and the N–H nitrogen participates in a C=N${}^{+}$ bond. This converts a relatively unreactive carbamate carbonyl into a strongly electrophilic carbon bearing an excellent leaving group.

The aromatic pi bond para to ethoxy attacks that carbon. The C=N pi electrons move to nitrogen as the new aryl–carbon bond forms. Loss of the aromatic proton restores aromaticity; nitrogen donation and departure of the O-triflylated group restore the imine bond. proton transfers during the sequence and carbonate workup remove the remaining N–H proton. The surviving five-membered ring is an oxazoline: the product is 2-(4-ethoxyphenyl)-2-Oxazoline. An equivalent arrow order can eliminate the triflyloxy leaving group before arene capture; these are limiting descriptions of the activated electrophile, not a need to postulate an unactivated carbamate undergoing ordinary Friedel–Crafts acylation.

Ethoxy donates a lone pair into the ring, stabilizing the ortho and para Wheland intermediates. The para pathway avoids the crowding of an incoming heterocycle beside ethoxy, giving the observed position. Mechanistic experiments on this transformation include in situ carbon NMR of the activated reagent, competition experiments and isotope-effect measurements supporting electrophilic aromatic substitution; they do not directly image every intermediate.^[ref]

Triflate is $\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{F}}_3\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{O}}_3^{-}$, the conjugate base of triflic acid. Its delocalized charge makes it a good leaving group in many substitution reactions.

Triflic anhydride is $(\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{F}}_3\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{O}}_2{)}_2\mathrm{O}$, an electrophilic sulfonylating reagent. carbonyl oxygen attack can form an O-triflylated intermediate; adjacent nitrogen donation gives an imidoyl-triflate description.