Palladium-catalyzed tandem oxidative annulation of α-amino ketones leading to 2-aroylindoles

Modular Synthesis of Highly Substituted 3-Azapyrroles by Rh(II)-Catalyzed N-H Bond Insertion and Cyclodehydration

A modular synthesis of highly substituted 3-azapyrroles has been developed using a three-step sequence comprising copper-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC), N-H bond insertion, and cyclodehydration. 1-Sulfonyl-1,2,3-triazoles (1-STs) can be accessed from common alkyne and sulfonyl azide building blocks by CuAAC using CuTC. Rhodium(II)-acetate-promoted 1-ST denitrogenation results in highly electrophilic rhodium azavinyl carbenes that, here, underwent insertion into the N-H bond of secondary α-aminoketones to form 1,2-aminoalkenes. These products were cyclized and dehydrated using BF₃·OEt₂ into highly substituted 3-azapyrroles. The three steps (CuAAC, N-H bond insertion, and cyclodehydration) could be telescoped into a one-pot process. The method proved to be highly efficient and tolerated a wide range of substituents.

Divergent Pd-catalyzed Functionalization of 4-Oxazolin-2-ones and 4-Methylene-2-oxazolidinones and Synthesis of Heterocyclic-Fused Indoles

Palladium-catalyzed functionalization was presently performed on two building blocks: 4-oxazolin-2-ones and 4-methylene-2-oxazolidinones. Direct Heck arylation of 4-oxazolin-2-ones led to a series of 5-aryl-4-oxazolin-2-ones, including analogues with N-chiral auxiliary, in an almost quantitative yield. The Pd(II)-catalyzed homocoupling reaction of 4-oxazolin-2-ones provided novel heterocyclic across-ring dienes. Meanwhile, the intramolecular cross-coupling of N-aryl-4-methylene-2-oxazolidinones furnished a series of oxazolo[3,4-a]indol-3-ones. Further functionalization of 4-methylene-2-oxazolidinones afforded substituted indoles and heterocyclic-fused indoles with aryl, bromo, carbinol, formyl, and vinyl groups. A computational study was carried out to account for the behavior of the formylated derivatives. The currently developed methodology was applied to a new formal total synthesis of ellipticine.

Regioselective Mercury(I)/Palladium(II)-Catalyzed Single-Step Approach for the Synthesis of Imines and 2-Substituted Indoles

An efficient synthesis of ketimines was achieved through a regioselective Hg(I)-catalyzed hydroamination of terminal acetylenes in the presence of anilines. The Pd(II)-catalyzed cyclization of these imines into the 2-substituted indoles was satisfactorily carried out by a C-H activation. In a single-step approach, a variety of 2-substituted indoles were also generated via a Hg(I)/Pd(II)-catalyzed, one-pot, two-step process, starting from anilines and terminal acetylenes. The arylacetylenes proved to be more effective than the alkyl derivatives.

Metal-Free Tandem Oxidative Cyclization for the Synthesis of 1,2-Dihydropyridazines and Pyrazoles

Mediated by 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ), a novel oxidative coupling of hydrazones and 1,3-diarylpropenes has been disclosed to generate appealing β,γ-unsaturated hydrazones, which further undergo 5-exo-trig or 6-endo-trig cascade cyclization to give the respective 1,2-dihydropyridazines or pyrazoles selectively under metal-free conditions. The mechanisms of the coupling and subsequent cyclization are proposed.