Dinuclear zinc catalyzed asymmetric Friedel-Crafts amidoalkylation of indoles with aryl aldimines

Org Biomol Chem. 2011 Apr 21;9(8):2614-7. doi: 10.1039/c0ob01200a. Epub 2011 Mar 7.

Abstract

The asymmetric Friedel-Crafts amidoalkylation of indoles with aryl aldimines could be efficiently catalyzed by Trost's bis-ProPhenol dinuclear zinc complexes to attain 3-indolyl methanamine derivatives in good to excellent yields (85-98%) with moderate to high enantiomeric ratios (from 70 : 30 up to 95 : 5 er). Remarkably, this approach provides efficient access to enantiomerically enriched 3-indolyl methanamines, which avoids the formation of the undesirable bis- and tris(indolyl)methanes (BIMs and TIMs) byproduct.