Green, Catalyst-Free Reaction of Indoles with β-Fluoro-β-nitrostyrenes in Water

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/ejoc.201800385

The reaction of 2-fluoro-2-nitrostyrenes with various indoles was investigated. We found that the reaction proceeds as a Michael addition in a highly regioselective manner to form 3-(1-aryl-2-fluoro-2-nitroethyl)-1H-indoles. Thus, a green and catalyst-free synthesis of these compounds was developed using water as a reaction medium. The high effectiveness of this approach was demonstrated through the preparation of target products in up to 92 % isolated yield. Subsequent reduction of the nitro group was investigated. We found that due to the instability of the intermediate α-fluoro amines, the reduction led to non-fluorinated tryptamine derivatives.