Construction of Chiral Tri- and Tetra-Arylmethanes Bearing Quaternary Carbon Centers: Copper-Catalyzed Enantioselective Propargylation of Indoles with Propargylic Esters

Copper-catalyzed enantioselective propargylation of indoles with propargylic esters and sequential Huisgen cycloaddition with azides lead to the construction of chiral triarylmethanes, bearing a quaternary carbon center, with high to excellent enantioselectivities. The result described herein can be used in the enantioselective preparation of a tetraarylmethane.