Full Paper
metals (Cu, Zn, Pd, Ag, Pt, Au) capable of promoting 5-endo-
dig cyclization reactions were lower than the detection limit.[8]
Other metals were detected in units of ppm, emphasizing and
rigorously demonstrating the metal-free nature of designed
cyclization.[9] Moreover, the reaction takes place only above
1408C, whereas in the presence of PdII the cyclization proceed-
ed in refluxing acetonitrile (~808C) or even Et2NH (~558C) at
relatively small concentrations (up to 1 mm of catalyst).[5a–c]
Taking into the account that the thermally induced cyclization
is also solvent-free, the concentration of both substrate and
adventitious metals should have risen tremendously forcing
the reaction to proceed at much lower temperatures. While
these facts are only speculation, they additionally solidify our
initial hypothesis of the absence of trace metal impurities,
which could interfere with the course of the thermal cycliza-
tion.
tioned work of Smith et al.,[11a] oxidation of 2-substituted N-
alkyl pyrroles under similar conditions with 2.5 equivalents of
DMP afforded 5-hydroxy-g-lactam, while the obtainment of the
elimination product required an additional treatment of the in-
termediate reaction mixture with BF3·OEt2/Et3SiH. In our case,
the product 3 was formed without any additional manipula-
tions. The plausible explanation of this fact could be due to
the liberation of AcOH during the oxidation, which was
enough to trigger the elimination process. Moreover, the iden-
1
tity of H NMR spectra of the crude and isolated 3b further
supported our assumption that the elimination took place ex-
actly during the oxidation, but not upon the chromatographic
purification on silica gel. Though a minor probability of dehy-
droxylation during the work-up procedure persisted, the TLC
control of the reaction mixture before and after the basic
aqueous treatment eliminated the final uncertainty as the
major product spot corresponded with 3b completely. While
the exact mechanism of the oxidation is not elaborated yet,
the one proposed by Smith and co-workers[11a] seems to be
reasonable and applicable in our instance with the exception
of the product outcome. With the optimized one-pot cycliza-
tion/oxidation conditions in hand, we then examined the
scope of this novel sequence on amino propargylic alcohols
1 f–k (Table 2).
After having established permanent and reliable access to 2-
unsubstituted tetrahydroindoles 2, the next goal was to find
suitable oxidation conditions for these labile substrates.[10]
Based on a study published by Smith et al.,[11] tetrahydroin-
doles 2 were envisioned as suitable starting materials to ach-
ieve oxidized pyrroles, oxypyrrolinones 3, as the key intermedi-
ates in the alkaloid syntheses. These intermediates could be
easily transformed into target tetracyclic cores by either radi-
cal- or cation-promoted intramolecular cyclization reactions.
Aiming to develop a one-pot approach to minimize losses,
tetrahydroindole 2b was subjected to oxidation directly upon
thermal cyclization without purification. To our delight, the
portionwise treatment of crude 2b in CH2Cl2 with Dess–Martin
periodinane (DMP) at 08C afforded the desired 5,6-dihydro-1H-
indol-2(4H)one 3b[12] in impure form in 56% yield after chro-
matographic purification. Optimization of the reaction condi-
tions revealed a number of features. The reaction temperature
during the slow portionwise addition of DMP should be ap-
proximately 08C (especially during the scale-up of experi-
ments) because overheating during the exothermic oxidation
reaction considerably affects the purity of the product. Revers-
ing the order of addition does not alter the yield, but it is
much less convenient than the direct addition. The final con-
centration of DMP in the reaction mixture could be as large as
1m, and lower concentrations result in slightly decreased
yields. Additives such as MgSO4, NaHCO3, and trifluoroacetic
acid (TFA) particularly decrease the effectiveness of the oxida-
tion reaction. Finally, the application of chromatographically
isolated 2b is unnecessary and also has a negative influence
on the reaction outcome. This observation could be explained
by the presence of one equivalent of water in the crude cycli-
zation product, which results in the formation of acetoxyiodi-
nane oxide upon the reaction with DMP. Acetoxyiodinane
oxide is well known to be more active and efficient in promot-
ing oxidation.[13] Consequently, varying the solvent from di-
chloromethane to acetonitrile and finally to benzotrifluoride
(PhCF3)[14] resulted in improvements in both of the purity and
yield (68%) of 3b.[15]
Table 2. One-pot syntheses of 5,6-dihydro-1H-indol-2(4H)ones 3 by suc-
cessive metal- and solvent-free thermally induced 5-endo-dig cyclization
followed by Dess–Martin periodinane-promoted oxidation of the pyrrole
cores.[a]
Entry Amino
propargylic
R’=H; n (1 or 2); R
5,6-Dihydro- Yield [%][b]
1H-indol-
alcohol 1
2(4H)one 3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1b
1 f
1g
1h
1i
1; Ph
1; CONH2
3b
3 f
3g
3h
3i
68
0[c]
2; 3,4-di-OMe-Ph
2; 4-OMe-Ph
2; 3,4-OCH2O-Ph
1; 6-Br-3,4-OCH2O-Ph 3j
2; 2-I-4,5-di-OMe-Ph 3k
79[d] (20)
78[d] (60)
50
1j
1k
47[d] (30)
48
[a] N2 atm, 1 h, 160–1708C (internal oil bath temperature). These were
general conditions, unless otherwise stated. After cooling to r.t., the
crude 2 was dissolved in PhCF3 and treated portionwise with DMP
(2.5 equiv) at 08C. [b] Isolated two-step yield after flash column chroma-
tography. The yield in parentheses was obtained after additional recrys-
tallization from the appropriate solvent (see the Supporting Information).
[c] DMF (20 vol%) was added to increase the solubility of 2 f. A complex
mixture of products was obtained. [d] Average yield of the reaction.
The treatment of crude 2 f with DMP produced a complex
mixture of products, which contained no required product ac-
cording to LCMS analysis. Presumably, primary alkyl amide re-
acted with the polyvalent iodine reagent through a Hofmann
The obtainment of 5,6-dihydro-1H-indol-2(4H)ones 3 de-
served a special attention as no formation of aroyloxy- or hy-
droxy- product 3’ was detected. According to the above-men-
Chem. Eur. J. 2016, 22, 7262 – 7267
7264
ꢀ 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim