Palladium-catalyzed synthesis of indenoindoles via C-H activation and tandem synthesis of indenoisoquinolines via Suzuki-Miyaura coupling and annulation.

An efficient approach for synthesizing fused nitrogen containing heterocycles has been formulated. The approach relies on the use of 2-bromo-3-(arylamino)-1H-inden-1-one derivatives as precursors for the synthesis of indenoindoles and indenoisoquoinolines. The synthesis of indenoindoles is achieved via palladium-catalyzed C-H activation strategy, while a sequential palladium-catalyzed intermolecular Suzuki coupling followed by an intramolecular annulation process is used to synthesize indenoisoquinolines. The developed strategy offers indenone fused polycycles in moderate to good yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]