Rapid copper-catalyzed friedel-crafts alkylation of indoles in 25 Minutes

Abstract

Herein, a protocol for the rapid synthesis of 3,3′-Diindolylmethanes (DIMs) via coppercatalyzed Friedel-Crafts alkylation of indoles in 25 min has been developed. This protocol also has the advantage of H2O as a by-product, room temperature and air condition, prefunctionalization-free of indoles, good C-3 selectivity of indoles, broad substrate scope, good reactivity (TON of up to 19.6, TOF of 972 h-1) and excellent to quantitative yields. Notably, the obtained DIMs 5i (IC50 = 6.709 μM) and 5j (IC50 = 5.699 μM) exhibit good anticancer activities toward MCF-7 cells (human breast cancer cells).