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CÀC Bond cleavage
Table 3. Copper-catalyzed reactions of 1a with 1,3-dicarbonyl com-
pounds 2.[a]
With the optimized conditions in hand, we investigated the
substrate scope for this CÀC bond-activation reaction. First,
a wide array of 2-iodoanilines 1 were treated with 2a and
moderate-to-excellent yields of 3 were obtained (Table 2). 2-Io-
doanilines with electron-donating substituents, such as methyl
Entry
2
Product
Yield [%][b]
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
2a: R3 =H, R1 =R2 =Me
2b: R3 =H, R1 =R2 =Et
2c: R3 =H, R1 =R2 =iPr
2d: R3 =H, R1 =R2 =tBu
2e: R3 =H, R1 =R2 =Ph
2 f: R1 =R2 =R3 =Me
2i: R3 =H, R1 =Ph, R2 =Me
2j: R3 =H, R1 =tBu, R2 =Me
2k: R3 =H, R1 =OtBu, R2 =Me
2l: R3ÀR1 =À(CH2)3À, R2 =Me
3aa
3ab
3ac
3ad
3ae
3af
3ai
3aj
3ak
3al
66
83
68
trace
43
31 (54)[c]
71
82
31
Table 2. Cu-catalyzed reactions of 1 with 2a.[a]
10
68
[a] Reaction conditions: 1a (0.5 mmol),
2 (2.5 mmol), CuI (10 mol%),
Cs2CO3 (1.5 mmol), CH3CN (2 mL), 908C, 12 h. [b] Isolated yield. [c] Yield
obtained at 1108C after 36 h.
3,5-dione (2b) gave the desired 3-acylindoles 3aa and 3ab in
66 and 83% yield, respectively (Table 3, entries 1 and 2). Hin-
dered substrate 2,6-dimethylheptane-3,5-dione (2c) also un-
derwent smooth CÀC bond cleavage to provide 3ac in 68%
yield (Table 3, entry 3). However, the more-hindered substrate
2,2,6,6-tetramethylheptane-3,5-dione (2d) afforded only a trace
of product 3ad (Table 3, entry 4). 1,3-Diphenylpropane-1,3-
dione (2e) also successfully reacted with 1a to give 3ae in
moderate yield (Table 3, entry 5). To our delight, the CÀC bond
cleavage reaction of 3-methylpentane-2,4-dione (2 f), substitut-
ed at the methylene position, proceeded smoothly with an en-
hanced reaction temperature and prolonged reaction time to
give 3af in 54% yield (Table 3, entry 6). Using asymmetric 1,3-
diketone substrates 2i and 2j, 3ai and 3aj were obtained se-
lectively in good yields (Table 3, entries 7 and 8). Tert-butyl-3-
oxobutanoate (2k) also reacted with 1a to produce 3ak in
31% yield (Table 3, entry 9). For cyclic 1,3-diketone 2l, acetyla-
tion product 3al was obtained in 68% yield without observa-
tion of any ring-opening product (Table 3, entry 12).
[a] Reaction conditions: 1 (0.5 mmol), 2a (2.5 mmol), CuI (10.0 mol%),
Cs2CO3 (1.5 mmol), CH3CN (2 mL), 908C, 12 h; isolated yields shown.
and methoxy groups, para to the amino group reacted
smoothly with 2a to provide 3ba and 3ca in 72 and 79%
yield, respectively. 2-Iodo-4-chloroaniline gave 3da in 67%
yield, which offered the possibility for further functionalization.
2-Iodo-4,6-dimethylaniline with methyl groups at both the
ortho- and para positions of the amino group afforded 3 fa in
71% yield. However, the presence of a strong electron-with-
drawing group decreased the efficiency dramatically (e.g.,
3ea). This poor efficiency may due to decreased nucleophilicity
of the amino group. Therefore, the process may be favored by
substrates with electron-donating substituents. To our delight,
2-bromoaniline also reacted smoothly with 2a under the same
conditions, although a relatively lower yield of 3aa (55%) was
obtained compared with the reaction of 1a. (2-Iodophenyl)me-
thanol, with a hydroxyl nucleophile and CÀI electrophile, also
worked efficiently and gave the expected product 2-(2-oxopro-
pyl)benzyl acetate (3ga) in 75% yield. Moreover, this method
could apply to heteroaromatic 2-iodoanilines; for example, re-
action of 4-iodopyridin-3-amine provided N-(4-(2-oxopropyl)-
pyridin-3-yl)acetamide (3ha) in 63% yield.
Intramolecular cyclization
Subsequently, in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst (FeCl3),
the o-(N-acylamino)aryl ketones 3 underwent efficient cycliza-
tion to produce multisubstituted indoles 5 (Table 4).[13] For ex-
ample, 3aa, 3ab, and more-hindered substrate 3ac afforded
the corresponding 1,2-disubstituted indoles 5a, 5b, and 5c, re-
spectively, in 82–93% yield. o-(N-acylamino)aryl ketone 3af,
with a methyl substituent at the methylene position, also cy-
clized smoothly to form 1,2,3-trisubstituted indole 5d in 78%
yield. o-(N-Acylamino)aryl ketones 3ae and 3ai containing an
acetophenone group underwent cyclization to generate 2-phe-
nylindoles 5e and 5 f in good yields. To our delight, cyclic N-
(2-(2-oxocyclopentyl)phenyl)acetamide (3al) also cyclized suc-
cessfully to produce fused polycyclic 1-(2,3-dihydrocyclopen-
The reactions of 1a with different 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds
2 were also investigated (Table 3). Diketone 2a and heptane-
Chem. Eur. J. 2015, 21, 1 – 7
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