C2 allylation of indole derivatives is a challenging but important transformation given the biological relevance of the products. Herein we report a selective C2 allylation strategy that proceeds via allylboration of in situ-generated 3-chloroindolenines. The reaction is mild, practical, and compatible with a wide range of C3-substituted indoles. As allylboronates are readily accessible from commercial precursors, various substituted allyl moieties can be introduced using the same protocol. To showcase the utility of this method we applied it to the synthesis of the natural product, tryprostatin B.
Keywords: Allylation; Boron reagents; Heterocycles; Indoles; Synthetic methods.
© 2019 The Authors. Published by Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.