General and Efficient Indole Syntheses Based on Catalytic Amination Reactions

Abstract

[reaction: see text] Highly flexible and efficient syntheses of the indole backbone are presented starting from o-alkynylhaloarenes. These transformations proceed via a palladium- or a copper-catalyzed amination reaction and a subsequent cyclization reaction in good to excellent yields. Furthermore, a multicatalytic one-pot indole synthesis starting from o-chloroiodobenzene is viable using a single catalyst consisting of an N-heterocyclic carbene palladium complex and CuI.