InBr3-catalyzed Friedel-Crafts addition of indoles to chiral aromatic epoxides: a facile route to enantiopure indolyl derivatives

New versatile route to the synthesis of tetrahydro-beta-carbolines and tetrahydro-pyrano[3,4-b]indoles via an intramolecular Michael addition catalyzed by InBr3

A simple multistep synthetic strategy to 4-substituted 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-beta-carboline and 1,3,4,9-tetrahydro-pyrano[3,4-b]indole derivatives starting from commercially available indole 2-carboxylic acid (5) is described. The final intramolecular Michael addition promoted by catalytic amount of InBr(3) (5-10 mol %) provided the expected polycyclic compounds in excellent yields (up to 97%) both in anhydrous organic and aqueous media.

The Michael addition of indoles to alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones catalyzed by CeCl3.7H2O-NaI combination supported on silica gel

Alkylation of indoles by means of the Michael addition has been the subject of a number of investigation. It is well established that regioselectivity in the additions of indoles to electron-deficient alkenes is strongly controlled by the reaction medium. In a continuation of the work on developing greener and cleaner technologies, the cerium(III) chloride heptahydrate and sodium iodide combination supported on silica gel catalyzes the alkylation of various indoles with alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones giving 3-(3-oxoalkyl)indole derivatives in good yields. The substitution on the indole nucleus occurred exclusively at the 3-position, and N-alkylation products have not been observed.