The oxidative radical substitution of aromatic systems is an important carbon-carbon bond formation process that provides numerous possibilities to access diverse synthetically and pharmacologically important molecules. 10–12 Kerr and coworkers recently described the synthesis of the tetracyclic-azepinoindolone tronocarpine core (2) using a Mn(OAc) 3 -mediated radical oxidative cyclization of N-alkylated indole-3-acetonitrile. 2a An efficient approach to the ...