Palladium-Catalyzed Functionalization of Indoles with 2-Acetoxymethyl-Substituted Electron-Deficient Alkenes.

New functionalizations of indoles via palladium-catalyzed reaction of indoles and 2-acetoxymethyl-substituted electron-deficient alkenes are reported. It was found that for N-protected indoles the reaction proceeded smoothly in the presence of 5 mol % of Pd(acac)2 and 10 mol % of PPh3 at 80 °C in HOAc, while for N-unprotected indoles, the reaction was carried out by using 5 mol % of Pd(dba)2 or 2.5 mol % of Pd2(dba)3•CHCI3 with 10 mol % of 2,2′-bipyridine as the catalyst in toluene. This strategy allows the selective installation of electron-deficient olefin functionality at the 3-position of indoles, which might be difficult to obtain by other methods and can be further elaborated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]