3- indole, reaction with

The reaction with dienophiles of the sulfur-substituted 3-vinylpyrrole, generated in situ by the alkylation of the 3-thioacetylpyrrole, has also been utilized to obtain indoles. Reactions with dimethyl maleate, dimethyl fumarate, methyl acrylate, acrylonitrile, and acrolein gave the corresponding cycloadducts which were directly transformed to the corresponding indoles by treatment with DDQ (91CPB489). 

One route to o-nitrobenzyl ketones is by acylation of carbon nucleophiles by o-nitrophenylacetyl chloride. This reaction has been applied to such nucleophiles as diethyl malonatc[l], methyl acetoacetate[2], Meldrum s acid[3] and enamines[4]. The procedure given below for ethyl indole-2-acetate is a good example of this methodology. Acylation of u-nitrobenzyl anions, as illustrated by the reaction with diethyl oxalate in the classic Reissert procedure for preparing indolc-2-carboxylate esters[5], is another route to o-nitrobenzyl ketones. The o-nitrophenyl enamines generated in the first step of the Leimgruber-Batcho synthesis (see Section 2.1) are also potential substrates for C-acylation[6,7], Deformylation and reduction leads to 2-sub-stituted indoles. 

One type of o-aminobenzyl anion synthon is a mixed Cu/Zn reagent which can be prepared from o-toluidines by / i.s-trimethylsilylation on nitrogen, benzylic bromination and reaction with Zn and CuCN[l]. Reaction of these reagents with acyl halides gives 2-substituted indoles. 

Reactions with mono-substituted alkynes usually give mixtures of both 5-and 6-substituted indoles, although certain combinations of substituents result in good regiosclcctivity. Table 8.2 provides some examples. 

Lithiated indoles can be alkylated with primary or allylic halides and they react with aldehydes and ketones by addition to give hydroxyalkyl derivatives. Table 10.1 gives some examples of such reactions. Entry 13 is an example of a reaction with ethylene oxide which introduces a 2-(2-hydroxyethyl) substituent. Entries 14 and 15 illustrate cases of addition to aromatic ketones in which dehydration occurs during the course of the reaction. It is likely that this process occurs through intramolecular transfer of the phenylsulfonyl group. 

Epoxides and aziridines are also capable of electrophilic subsitution of indoles. Indolylmagncsium bromide and cyclohexene oxide react to give 3-(lrans-2-hydroxycyclohexyl)indole[14]. Reaction of indoles with epoxides also occurs in the presence of Lewis acids. For example, indole reacts with methyl 2S,3R-epoxybutanoate at C3 with inversion of configuration[15]. 

There are also palladium-catalysed procedures for allylation. Ethyl 3-bromo-l-(4-methylphenylsulfonyl)indole-2-carboxylate is allylated at C3 upon reaction with allyl acetate and hexabutylditin[27], Ihe reaction presumably Involves a ir-allyl-Pd intermediate formed from the allyl acetate, oxidative addition, transmetallation and cross coupling. 

Vilsmeier-Haack conditions have been used most frequently for formylation but are also applicable to longer acyl chains[3]. Reactions with lactams generate 3-(iminyl)indoles which can be hydrolysed to generate co-aminoacyl groups as in equation 11.6 [4]. 

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