3-Alkyl-2-pyridyl Directing Group-Enabled C2 Selective C-H Silylation of Indoles and Pyrroles via an Iridium Catalyst

J Org Chem. 2022 Oct 7;87(19):13346-13351. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.2c01385. Epub 2022 Sep 21.

Abstract

An iridium-catalyzed, directing group-enabled site selective intra- and intermolecular silylation of indoles and pyrroles with hydrosilanes has been developed under ligand-free conditions. Fine-tuning of the removable 3-alkyl-2-pyridyl directing group was found to be crucial for achieving high yields for C2-silylated indole and pyrrole products. Moreover, the scalability was demonstrated, and further transformations of the silylation products were achieved.