Assembly of indole-2-carboxylic acid esters through a ligand-free copper-catalysed cascade process.

Qian Cai, Zhengqiu Li, Jiajia Wei, Chengyong Ha, Duanqing Pei, Ke Ding

Index: Chem. Commun. (Camb.) (48) , 7581-3, (2009)

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Abstract

A straightforward synthesis of indole-2-carboxylic esters was developed through a ligand-free copper-catalysed condensation/coupling/deformylation cascade process from 2-halo aryl aldehydes or ketones with ethyl isocyanoacetate. The reactions proceeded well for most of the 2-iodo-, bromo-, and chloro-substrates under room temperature or mild conditions.