We recently reported that catalytic hydrogenation of 2-nitrophenylacetonitriles bearing an electron-withdrawing group (EWG) or an aryl substituent α to the nitrile, using a mixture of Pd/C and (Ph 3 P) 4 Pd, afforded N-hydroxy-2-aminoindoles in good to excellent yields (Scheme [1] ). [13] In the absence of the EWG, we observed that the reductive cyclization to form the indole ring does not occur. Instead, we isolated mixtures of anilines and hydroxylamines ...
