One-Carbon Ring Expansion of Indoles and Pyrroles: A Straightforward Access to 3-Fluorinated Quinolines and Pyridines

3-Fluorinated quinolines and pyridines are prevalent pharmacophores, yet their synthesis is often challenging. Herein, we demonstrate that dibromofluoromethane as bromofluorocarbene source enables the one-carbon ring expansion of readily available indoles and pyrroles to structurally diverse 3-fluorinated quinolines and pyridines. This straightforward protocol requires only a short reaction time of ten minutes and can be performed under air atmosphere. Preliminary investigations reveal that this strategy can also be applied to the synthesis of other valuable azines by using different 1,1-dibromoalkanes as bromocarbene sources.

Highly Efficient Synthesis of Stereodefined Multisubstituted 1,4-Dicyano- and 1-Cyano-1,3-butadienes and Their Reactions with Organolithium Reagents

Stereodefined multisubstituted 1-cyano- and 1,4-dicyano-1,3-butadiene derivatives were obtained in excellent yields of the isolated product from their corresponding monohalo- and dihalobutadienes and CuCN. This reaction proceeded with high stereoselectivity and retention of the stereochemistry of the starting halobutadienes. A study of the utility of the thus-obtained 1-cyano- and 1,4-dicyano-1,3-butadiene derivatives was demonstrated by their reactions with organolithium reagents. 2H-Pyrrole or iminocyclopentadiene derivatives were formed in high yields from 1-cyano-4-halo-1,3-butadienes and organolithium reagents. When 1,4-dicyano-1,3-butadienes were treated with organolithium reagents followed by trapping with electrophiles, a tandem process took place to afford 2H-pyrrolyl nitriles in excellent yields. Reduction of 1,4-dicyano-1,3-butadiene derivatives with LiAlH4 showed novel reaction patterns relative to normal nitriles.