Electrochemical Dearomative 2,3-Difunctionalization of Indoles

Jan 23, 2019 - Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux d'Orsay (ICMMO, UMR 8182), Equipe ... Johnson, Ree, Hartmann, Lang, Sawano, and Sarpo...
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Electrochemical dearomative 2,3-difunctionalization of indoles Ju Wu, Yingchao Dou, Régis Guillot, Cyrille Kouklovsky, and Guillaume Vincent J. Am. Chem. Soc., Just Accepted Manuscript • Publication Date (Web): 23 Jan 2019 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on January 23, 2019

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Journal of the American Chemical Society

Electrochemical dearomative 2,3-difunctionalization of indoles Ju Wu, Yingchao Dou, Régis Guillot, Cyrille Kouklovsky, Guillaume Vincent* Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux d’Orsay (ICMMO, UMR 8182), Equipe MSMT, Univ. Paris Sud, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, 15, rue Georges Clémenceau, 91405 Orsay, Cedex, France. Supporting Information Placeholder ABSTRACT: We report the use of electrochemistry to perform a direct oxidative dearomatization of indoles leading to 2,3-dialkoxy or 2,3-diazido indolines under undivided conditions at a constant current. This operationally simple electro-oxidative procedure avoids the use of an external oxidant and displays an excellent functional group compatibility. The formation of the two C-O or CN bonds is believed to arise from the oxidation of the indoles into radical cation intermediates.

The direct difunctionalization of double bonds is a field of intense synthetic efforts since it allows the formation of two new bonds via the introduction of two functional groups. Indeed, such transformation of alkenes or styrenes is very well documented and usually requires the use of an external stoichiometric oxidant.1 In the last years, electrochemistry has been rediscovered to be a powerful sustainable synthetic tool in organic chemistry, thanks to the recent discovery of selective reactions and to easy-to handle apparatus or electrolysis set-ups which render electrochemistry accessible to all organic chemists.2 Along with the bloom of photoredox catalysis, this rebirth of electrosynthesis has enable the development of external oxidant-free methods for the highly efficient and selective difunctionalization of alkenes in mild conditions which usually involves the generation of a radical intermediate which adds to the alkene (Scheme 1).3 Performing the direct functionalization of a double bond imbedded in an aromatic heterocycle results in a more challenging dearomatization process4 and provides three-dimensional chemicals of high added value.5 It is particularly interesting to perform such dearomatization reactions on the indole nucleus due to the biological importance of this heterocycle. A myriad of dearomative difunctionalizations of indoles are known,6 including our own work,7 which generally require the use of a strong oxidizing agent. In contrast, electrochemistry has been scarcely explored in dearomatization reactions.3a,h,l,8,9 In this context, we would like to report the electrochemical straightforward dearomatization of indoles with the formation of two carbon-heteroatom bonds (C-O or C-N). In the past 6 years, we have investigated the reactivity of N-acyl indoles in dearomatization reactions including oxidative couplings with nucleophiles.7c-f Following our synthesis of benzofuro[3,2b]indolines via a (3+2) annulation between N-acyl indoles and phenols mediated by DDQ and FeCl3,7c Lei and co-workers described an electrochemical version of our reaction with improved yields and an extended scope.8a In line with our interest in dearomatization reactions of N-acyl indoles, it inspired us to explore the electrochemical oxidation of N-acyl indoles in presence of nucleophiles through, presumably, the oxidation of the indole nucleus into a radical cation which is, mechanistically, in contrast

to most of the electrochemical difunctionalization of alkenes (Scheme 1).8a,c

Scheme 1. Electrochemical difunctionalization of alkenes and heteroarenes. Electrochemical dif unctionalization of alkenes R2 3

R

+X 1

R2 3

R2

X 1

3

X 1

X

+X -

R2

X

R R R -1e R 1 R3 R - 1 eElectrochemical dearomatization of indoles (this approach) R3 R3 X 3 R 2 X + 2 R R2 R2 N X N - 1 eN 1 R -1e R1 R1 radical cation R

As a proof-of-principal experiment, we studied the 2,3bismethoxylation of N-Ac skatole 1a (Scheme 2, A).9,10 The electrolysis of 1a at a constant current of 8.9 mA/cm2 with a graphite anode and a platinum cathode in a 1:1 mixture of MeOH and acetonitrile in an undivided cell and n-Bu4NBF4 as the electrolyte at room temperature, yielded the expected 2,3dimethoxyindoline 2a in 77% yield as a 9:1 mixture of diasteroisomers in favor of the trans addition of the two methoxy groups. The use of 5 mol% of TEMPO allowed us to improve the yield to 89% and to avoid decomposition of 1a. It was possible to implement this transformation on gram scale. The dialkoxylation could also be performed in ethanol leading to 2b or with functionalized alcohols such as allyl alcohol, cyclopropyl methanol, homopropargyl alcohol and ethylene glycol to yield indolines 2c-2f. The electron-withdrawing substituent on the nitrogen of the indole was next evaluated and indolines 2g-j containing pivaloyl, formyl, benzoyl and tosyl groups were obtained. The nature of the substituents on the benzene ring was next scrutinized. The reaction tolerates electron-donating groups, halogens or electron-withdrawing groups at C5, C6 or C7 positions (2k-t). Indoline 2u was obtained efficiently from 2,3-unsubstitutedN-Ts-indole. The dearomative dimethoxylation reaction proceeds well with alkyl groups or phenyl substituents at the C3 position (2vz). More interestingly, the mild conditions of the reaction allow to preserve functional groups on the C3-side chain: cyano-containing indoline 2aa and bromo-containing indoline 2ab were obtained without, respectively, hydrolysis or nucleophilic substitution by methanol. Impressively, dimethoxylation of a 3-cyclopropylindole could be performed without noticeable opening of the cyclopropyl group leading to cyclopropylindoline 2ac.

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Scheme 2. Electrolysis of indoles A Dearomative dialkoxylation of indolesa,b R4 R5 R6 R7

C(+)

R3

Pt(-) undivided cell 8.9 mA/cm2

R2 N CH3CN/R8OH (1:1) R1 1 n-Bu4NBF4, TEMPO (5 %)

B Alpha-alkoxylation of 2,3-disubstituted indolesa,h R4

R5 R6

OR8 R3

R

N OR8 R1 2

7

R

MeO

R5

N Ac

OMe

R5 = H 2v, R3 = Pr, 85% (90:10) 2w, R3 = Bu, 74% (80:20) 2x, R3 = Bn, 70% (80:20) 2y, R3 = Ph, 62% (95:5) (X-ray crystal structure) R5 = Br 2z, R3 = Bu, 86% (85:15)

N OMe Ts 2ac, 83% (90:10)f (radical clock experiment)

NHTs OMe 2ad, 46% (95:5)f OMe OH N OMe Boc

2ae, 54% (80:20)f

R

C(+)

R3

Pt(-) undivided cell 8.9 mA/cm2

4a, Nu = N3, 90% from TMSN3

N II R1

MeOH

N Ts

4

Nu

4c, Nu = Allyl, 81% from AllylTMS

4b, Nu = CN, 86% from TMSCN

4d, Nu = 2,4,6-triOMePh, 78% from 1,3,5-triOMePh R9

OMe

R5

R9 R5

O N R1

O

+

OMe N 9 R9 R R1 5 9 1 2af, R = H, R = H, R = CO2Et, 72%, rr 85/15f ,g 2ag, R5 = F, R9 = H, R1 = Boc, 57%, rr 85/15f ,g 2ah, R5 = CN, R9 = H,R1 = Boc, 76%, rr 90/10f ,g 2ai, R5 = H, R9 = Me, R1 = Boc, 72%, rr 70/30f ,g 2aj, R5 = H, R9 = H, R1 = , 62%, rr 95/5g O N3

R4

N R1

CH2Cl2, -50°C

N OMe Ts 3b

D Dearomative diazidation of indolesa,j 4

I

OMe

NuM, TMSOTf

Br

N Ts

N R1

R1 = Ts 3c, R5 = Me, 54% OMe 5 N N OMe 3d, R = OMe, 44% Ac 3i, 46% R1 3e, R5 = Br, 65% EtO (X-ray crystal structure) R5 = H 5 3f, R = Cl, 62% 3a, R1 = Ac, 55% 3g, R5 = CN, 39% N OEt 1 3b, R = Ts, 66% Ts 3j, 23% 3h, R5 = NO2, 45% C Transf ormation of 1-methoxy-N-Ts-tetrahydrocarbazole 3bi

OMe N OMe Ac 2ab, 63% (95:5) OMe CO2Me

( )n

R5

R5

N OMe Ts 2u, 85% (75:25)

N OMe Ac 2aa, 39% (95:5) OMe

OMe

OMe

OMe Me

R6

N 2 R1

Pt(-) undivided cell 8.9 mA/cm2

CH3CN/R8OH (1:1) 3 n-Bu4NBF4, TEMPO (10 %) MeO MeO

N R1 1

OR8 2d, R8 = 2a, R8 = Me, 89% (90:10) Me 49% (90:10)d [72% (90:10) on 1.3 g scale]c 8= N 8 = Et, 2e, R 8 2b, R 58% (90:10) Ac OR 24% (85:15)d 47% (95:5)d 2c, R8 = Me 2g, R1 = Piv, 58% (90:10) OMe O 2h, R1 = CHO, 81% (77:23) Me O N 1 Ac N OMe 2i, R = Bz, 88% (75:25) 2f, 43%e R1 2j, R1 = Ts, 87% (91:9) (X-ray crystal structure) OMe 2k, R5 = OMe, 67% (80:20) OMe 5 = Me, Me R5 2l, R 76% (75:25) Me N OMe 2m, R5 = Br, 77% (80:20) N OMe Ac 2n, R5 = CN, 40% (90:10) Ac Me 2o, 58% (85:15) 2p, R6 = Me, 82% (60:40) 2q, R6 = F, 74% (70:30) 6 N OMe 2r, R = Cl, 64% (70:30) Ac 2s, R6 = Br, 80% (85:15) 2t, R6 = NO2, 47% (85:15) OMe OMe CN R3

C(+) ()

5

R3 N3

R5

Ph N3 Me N3

TsN OMe N CO2Et 2ak, R5 = OMe 53% (95:5)f 2al, R5 = Me 54% (95:5)f (X-ray crystal structure)

R6 = H 5c, R5 = OMe, 57% (95:5) 5d, R5 = CN, 48% (95:5)

N N R6 Ac Ac 5a, Me, 74% (95:5) R5 = H, 5e, R6 = Cl, 55% (95:5) R 3 = CH CN, 6 6 N3 5b, R N 41% (95:5) R 2 R TMSN3 (5 equiv.) R1 1 R7 N3 CH3CN, n-Bu4NBF4 5f, R5 = H, 70% (95:5) R7 R5 5g, R5 = OMe, 56% (95:5) N N3 N N Ts E Transf ormation of diazides 5a,f Ph 5h, R5 = Br, 79% (95:5) N 5k, 51% (95:5) N 5 N Ts 3 5i, R = Cl, 74% (95:5) Ph H2 (1 atm.) H2N Me Me N3 5j, R5 = CN, 59% (95:5) CuSO4 (10%) Pd-C (10%) Me N N N 5 H Me N3 Me H N Na ascorb. (20%) N 6a Ac N N3 MeOH, rt Me NH2 Ts t-BuOH/ H2O Ts 7f 78% H H 5m, 32% (95:5) Ph (1:1), rt, 68% N 5l, 59% (91:9) (X-ray crystal structure) (X-ray crystal structure) (radical clock experiment) (43% brsm) Ts N H R5

2

R5

N3

R3 2 N R 1 N3 R 5

R3 =

3

Undivided cell, graphite-SK50 anode (1.4 cm x 0.8 cm x 0.2 cm submerged), platinum plated cathode (1.4 cm x 0.8 cm x 0.2 cm submerged), constant current of 10 mA (J = 8.9 mA/cm2), 5 mL of solvent, room temperature; isolated yields (diastereomeric ratio) are indicated. b 1 (0.4 mmol), TEMPO (0.02 mmol), n-Bu4NBF4 (0.4 mmol), R8OH/CH3CN (2.5 mL/2.5 mL); c anode (0.8 cm x 3.4 cm x 0.2 cm submerged), cathode (3.4 cm x 0.8 cm x 0.2 cm submerged), constant current of 15 mA (J = 5.5 mA/cm2), 1 (8 mmol), TEMPO (0.0256 mmol), n-Bu4NBF4 (2 mmol), MeOH/CH3CN (8 mL/8 mL); d in AllylOH/CH3CN (1 mL/4 mL) or cyclopropyl methanol/CH3CN (1.5 mL/3.5 mL) or homopropargyl alcohol/CH3CN (1.5 mL/3.5 mL); e in OH(CH2)2OH/DMF (1.5 mL/3.5 mL); f on 0.2 mmol of 1; g regioisomeric ratio; h 1 (0.2 mmol), TEMPO (0.03 mmol), n-Bu4NBF4 (0.2 mmol), MeOH/CH3CN (2.5 mL/2.5 mL); i 3 (0.2 mmol), NuM (0.3 mmol), TMSOTf (0.04 mmol), CH2Cl2 (2 mL), –50°C; j 1 (0.2 mmol), TMSN3 (1 mmol), n-Bu4NBF4 (0.2 mmol), CH3CN (5 mL). a

The dimethoxylated indolines 2ad,ae were obtained from tryptophan or tryptophol derivatives, despite the presence of a nucleophilic entity on their C3-side chain. Adding one carbon to the C3-side chain led to intramolecular trapping by the nucleophile. In the case of alcohols, methoxy-tetrahydropyranoindolines 2af-aj were obtained as the major products via intermolecular addition of methanol at the C3 position. In contrast, tosylamide-containing C3-

side chains led selectively to valuable trans-spirocyclic indolines 2ak,al, presumably via initial intramolecular trapping of the indole radical cation at C3. The reactivity of tetrahydroacarbazoles in the same oxidative conditions was then examined (Scheme 2, B). In contrast to 3monosubstituted N-acyl indoles, alpha-monomethoxylation occurred.11 This formal benzylic C-H functionalization likely

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Journal of the American Chemical Society proceeds via the dearomative dimethoxylation of the C2=C3 bond followed by elimination of the methoxy at C2 of 2 and isomerization of the iminium I into enamide intermediate II which could be attacked by methanol to yield 3 upon allylic nucleophilic substitution.9,11a-cAlpha-methoxy carbazoles were thus obtained with acetyl or tosyl groups on the nitrogen (3a,b) and electrondonating (3c,d), halogens (3e,f) or electron-withdrawing (3g,h) groups on the benzene part. The reaction could also be extended to cyclopentaindole 3i. Unfortunately, 2,3-dimethyl-N-Ts-indole was not a competent substrate. Surprisingly, with ethanol, two alkoxylations occurred on the two positions vicinal to the indole ring and diethoxyindoline 3j was obtained. Methoxy-N-Tstetrahydrocarbazole 3b could be used as a platform to access molecular diversity. Addition of various nucleophiles leads to tetrahydrocarbazoles 4 substituted respectively by an azide (4a), a cyanide (4b), an allyl (4c) and an arene (4d) (Scheme 2, C).11c Next, we evaluated the possibility of forming two C-N bonds instead of the C-O bonds during the electrochemical oxidative dearomatization of indoles by replacing methanol by a nitrogencontaining reagent.3h During recent developments in diazidation of alkenes, very few examples of diazidation of indoles were reported using an external oxidant.12 Very recently, a powerful electrochemical general diazidation of alkenes with a manganese electrocatalyst was published in which only one example from a 2,3-unsubstituted indole is described.3a, Eventually, the electrolysis of N-Ac skatole in presence of trimethylsilyl azide led to 2,3diazide indoline 5a with an excellent trans-diastereoselectivity (Scheme 2, D). This electrochemical diazidation reaction is compatible with a nitrile group on the C3-side chain of the indole (5b), electron-donating (5c) or electron-withdrawing (5d) groups or halogens (5e) on the benzene ring. In contrast to the electrolysis in presence of methanol, the dearomatized cis-products 5f-k were also obtained from differently substituted N-Ts tetrahydrocarbazoles or cyclopentaindole. Remarkably, it allows to create diastereoselectively two contiguous tetrasubstituted stereogenic centers. As for the dimethoxylation reaction, the diazidation proceeded without noticeable opening of the cyclopropyl ring in the case of 5l. Finally, the formation of indoline 5m, presumably cis, through diazidation of a steroid-derived indole demonstrates the versatility of this electrochemical protocol towards complex substrates bearing C-H bonds prone to oxidation.13 Indeed, diazide-containing indolines 5 were poised to synthetic transformations. A double click reaction could be performed on 5a with phenylacetylene yielding trans-bistriazole 6 and diazide 5f could be reduced to cis-2,3-diamine-containing indoline 7 (Scheme 2, E). We next focused our attention to the mechanism of these dearomative difunctionalizations of indoles. No catalytic current was observed for TEMPO in presence of 1a by cyclic voltammetry (see SI).2a Moreover, the dearomative dimethoxylation of 1 could be performed without TEMPO in satisfactory yields. It is therefore unlikely that TEMPO acts as a mediator to directly oxidize the NAc indole 1 in the dimethoxylation reaction.14 The syntheses of 2ac and 5l represent radical clock experiments (Scheme 2, A and E). The fact that the cyclopropyl group at the C3-position did not undergo ring opening for each reactions seems to indicate that a radical is probably not formed at the C3-position of the indole. Cyclic voltammetry experiments (see SI) suggest that methanol is involved in the reduction process at the cathode (see SI) liberating methoxide.15 In the diazidation reaction, the reduction process at the cathode is unclear to us, it is conceivable that adventitious water in the medium could react with TMSN3 and led to formation of protons which are reduced at the cathode.15 While NAc skatole 1a is oxidized before methanol or TMSN3 (see SI), oxidative waves of methoxide or azide anions are observed at lower potentials than the oxidative wave of 1a (Scheme 3, A and SI). To verify if methoxy

or azide radicals are responsible for the dimethoxylation or diazidation, these reactions were each conducted at a constant potential of 1.3V (vs Ag/AgCl), between the oxidative waves of the methoxide or azide anions and the oxidative wave of 1a (Scheme 3, B). No reaction was observed in the dimethoxylation reaction, while a low yield of diazide 5a (23%) was obtained along with recovered 1a and unidentified byproducts. Moreover, replacing TMSN3 by NaN3 or Bu4NN3, which are well known to generate the azide radicals by anodic oxidation, resulted in no reaction.

Scheme 3. Mechanistic considerations. A Cyclic voltammograms of reactants

B Control experiments

Nu

Pt(-)

C(+)

Me

1a

MeOH/CH3CN (1:1), TEMPO (5%) or TMSN3 (5 equiv.), CH3CN undivided cell, n-Bu4NBF4 Electrolysis conditions Nucleophile MeOH

constant potential 1.3 V (vs Ag/AgCl)

TMSN3

constant potential 1.3 V (vs Ag/AgCl)

Bu4NN3 or NaN3

No reaction 5a (23%) + by-products + recovered 1a

constant current (8.9 mA/cm2) 2

constant current (8.9 mA/cm ) TEMPO (1.5 equiv.)

MeOH or TMSN3

Nu N Ac 2a, Nu = OMe 5a, Nu = N3 Results

No reactions No reactions

"Classical Conditions" 2a (89%) or constant current (8.9 mA/cm2) 5a (74%) Observed potential >2V (vs Ag/AgCl)

MeOH or TMSN3

C Mechanistic proposal 1 e-

R R N EWG

III e-

MeOH or N3TMS, H2O

e-

MeO or N3 Nu R

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R

N IV EWG

1/2 H2

MeOH or N3TMS, H2O MeO or N3 2 or 5

1/2 H2

e-

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Interestingly, in presence of an excess of TEMPO, both the dialkoxylation and the diazidation did not proceed and only the starting N-Ac indole was recovered which is in sharp contrast to the azidooxygenation of alkenes developed recently by Lin which involved azide radicals.3a,d,16 More importantly, we noticed that in our classical constant current conditions, the potential of the anode was above 2V (vs Ag/AgCl) for each reactions, which is superior to the oxidation potential of 1a.17 We therefore believe that Nsubstituted indole 1 is oxidized directly at the anode into radical cation intermediate III. Methoxide or azide anions produced directly and indirectly at the cathode could then react at the C3position of III accompanied by an oxidation process at the anode (Scheme 3, C). This process could be simultaneous or stepwise via initial addition of the nucleophile to III leading to a radical intermediate at C2 which could then be oxidized.18 The resulting iminium ion IV is poised to be trapped by a second molecule of methoxide or azide to eventually deliver 2 or 5 as their more stable isomers. In the case of 3-substituted indoles, the methoxy or azides are trans to each other to avoid electronic repulsion, while 5,6 or 5,5-fused ring systems greatly favor the cis isomer. The present diazidation reaction is in contrast with the electrochemical diazidation of alkenes developed by Lin, in which oxidation of NaN3 delivers catalytically an azide-manganese radical which adds to the alkene followed by trapping of the subsequent carbon radical by a second azide-manganese radical species.3a In conclusion, we deployed electrochemistry to perform a general oxidative and dearomative difunctionalization of indoles with the formation of two C-O or two C-N bonds. This reaction likely proceeds via anodic oxidation of the N-substituted indole into a radical cation which could be trapped by alcohols or azide yielding three-dimensional 2,3-dialkoxyindolines or 2,3diazidoindolines with a broad scope. These undivided electrolytic conditions avoid the use of an external oxidant and should inspire the development of other dearomatization reactions to access high added-value architectures from flat and readily available starting materials.

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ASSOCIATED CONTENT Supporting Information The Supporting Information is available free of charge on the ACS Publications website. Experimental procedures, characterizations and NMR spectra of all new compounds (PDF). X-ray crystallographic data for 2f, 2y, 2al, 3e, 6 and 7 (cif).

AUTHOR INFORMATION Corresponding Author [email protected]

Notes The authors declare no competing financial interests.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT We gratefully acknowledge Dr. Laurence Grimaud (ENS Paris) and Dr. Maxime Vitale (Chimie Paris Tech) for helpful discussions. JW and YD thank the China Scholarship Council (CSC) for their respective PhD fellowships. We also gratefully acknowledge the ANR (ANR-17-CE07-0050; “ArDCo”), the Université Paris Sud and the CNRS for financial support.

REFERENCES (1)

(a) McDonald, R. I.; Liu, G.; Stahl, S. S. Palladium(II)-Catalyzed Alkene Functionalization via Nucleopalladation: Stereochemical Pathways and Enantioselective Catalytic Applications. Chem. Rev.

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Journal of the American Chemical Society Porco, J. A. Dearomatization Strategies in the Synthesis of Complex Natural Products. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 4068– 4093. (5) Lovering, F.; Bikker, J.; Humblet, C. Escape from Flatland: Increasing Saturation as an Approach to Improving Clinical Success. J. Med. Chem. 2009, 52, 6752–6756. (6) (a) Roche, S. P.; Youte Tendoung, J.-J.; Tréguier, B. Advances in Dearomatization Strategies of Indoles. Tetrahedron 2015, 71, 3549–3591; (b) Denizot, N.; Tomakinian, T.; Beaud, R.; Kouklovsky, C.; Vincent, G. Synthesis of 3-Arylated Indolines from Dearomatization of Indoles. Tetrahedron Lett. 2015, 56, 4413–4429 (7) (a) Lachkar, D.; Denizot, N.; Bernadat, G.; Ahamada, K.; Beniddir, M. A.; Dumontet, V.; Gallard, J.-F.; Guillot, R.; Leblanc, K.; N’nang, E. O.; et al. Unified Biomimetic Assembly of Voacalgine A and Bipleiophylline via Divergent Oxidative Couplings. Nat. Chem. 2017, 9, 793–798; (b) Denizot, N.; Pouilhès, A.; Cucca, M.; Beaud, R.; Guillot, R.; Kouklovsky, C.; Vincent, G. Bioinspired Direct Access to Benzofuroindolines by Oxidative [3+2] Annulation of Phenols and Indoles. Org. Lett. 2014, 16, 5752– 5755; (c) Tomakinian, T.; Guillot, R.; Kouklovsky, C.; Vincent, G. Direct Oxidative Coupling of N-Acetyl Indoles and Phenols for the Synthesis of Benzofuroindolines Related to Phalarine. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 11881–11885; (d) Marques, A.-S.; Coeffard, V.; Chataigner, I.; Vincent, G.; Moreau, X. IronMediated Domino Interrupted Iso-Nazarov/Dearomative (3+2)Cycloaddition of Electrophilic Indoles. Org. Lett. 2016, 18, 5296– 5299; (e) Ryzhakov, D.; Jarret, M.; Guillot, R.; Kouklovsky, C.; Vincent, G. Radical-Mediated Dearomatization of Indoles with Sulfinate Reagents for the Synthesis of Fluorinated Spirocyclic Indolines. Org. Lett. 2017, 19, 6336–6339; (f) Wu, J.; Nandi, R. K.; Guillot, R.; Kouklovsky, C.; Vincent, G. Dearomative Diallylation of N-Acylindoles Mediated by FeCl3. Org. Lett. 2018, 20, 1845–1848. (8) Electrochemical dearomatization of indoles: (a) Liu, K.; Tang, S.; Huang, P.; Lei, A. External Oxidant-Free Electrooxidative [3+2] Annulation between Phenol and Indole Derivatives. Nat. Commun. 2017, 8, 775; (b) Ding, H.; DeRoy, P. L.; Perreault, C.; Larivée, A.; Siddiqui, A.; Caldwell, C. G.; Harran, S.; Harran, P. G. Electrolytic Macrocyclizations: Scalable Synthesis of a Diazonamide-Based Drug Development Candidate. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015, 54, 4818–4822; (c) Yin, B.; Wang, L.; Inagi, S.; Fuchigami, T. Electrosynthesis of fluorinated indoles derivatives. Tetrahedron 2010, 66, 6820-6825; electrochemical dearomatization of phenols: (d) Lipp, A.; Ferenc, D.; Gütz, C.; Geffe, M.; Vierengel, N.; Schollmeyer, D.; Schäfer, H. J.; Waldvogel, S. R.; Opatz, T. A Regio- and Diastereoselective Anodic Aryl–Aryl Coupling in the Biomimetic Total Synthesis of (−)-Thebaine. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 11055–11059; (e) Barjau, J.; Schnakenburg, G.; Waldvogel, S. R. Diversity-Oriented Synthesis of Polycyclic Scaffolds by Modification of an Anodic Product Derived from 2,4Dimethylphenol. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 1415–1419; (f) Yamamura, S.; Nishiyama, S. Anodic Oxidation of Phenols Towards the Synthesis of Bioactive Natural Products. Synlett 2002, 0533–0543; electrochemical dearomatization of furans: (g) Wu, H.; Moeller, K. D. Anodic Coupling Reactions:  A Sequential Cyclization Route to the Arteannuin Ring Skeleton. Org. Lett. 2007, 9, 4599–4602; (h) Miller, A. K.; Hughes, C. C.; KennedySmith, J. J.; Gradl, S. N.; Trauner, D. Total Synthesis of (−)Heptemerone B and (−)-Guanacastepene E. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 17057–17062. (9) Royer reported the anodic oxidation of few tetrahydro--carbolines in presence of methanol and in one case observed the formation of an intermediate dearomatized dimethoxyindoline: Royer, J.; Planas, L.; Martens, T.; Billon-Souquet, F. Anodic Oxidation of Tetrahydro-b-Carboline Derivatives: Formal Oxidation of Protonated Tertiary Amines. Heterocycles 2004, 63, 765-771. (10) (a) Kwon, S.; Kuroki, N. Reaction of 1-Substituted Indoles with Carboxylic Acids and N-Iodosuccinimide. Chem. Lett. 1980, 9, 237–238; (b) Vice, S. F.; Dmitrienko, G. I. The Bromination– Methanolysis of N-Acetyl-2,3-Dimethylindole. Can. J. Chem. 1982, 60, 1233–1237; (c) Kawasaki, T.; Chien, C.-S.; Sakamoto, M. Oxidation of 1-Acylindoles with Molybdenum Peroxo Complex (MoO5HMPA): Preparation of 1-Acyl-Trans- and Cis2,3-Dihydroxyindoline Derivatives. Chem. Lett. 1983, 12, 855–

858; (d) Takayama, H.; Misawa, K.; Okada, N.; Ishikawa, H.; Kitajima, M.; Hatori, Y.; Murayama, T.; Wongseripipatana, S.; Tashima, K.; Matsumoto, K.; et al. New Procedure to Mask the 2,3π Bond of the Indole Nucleus and Its Application to the Preparation of Potent Opioid Receptor Agonists with a Corynanthe Skeleton. Org. Lett. 2006, 8, 5705–5708; (e) Silva Jr, L. F.; Craveiro, M. V.; Gambardella, M. T. P. Synthesis of Polyalkylated Indoles Using a Thallium(III)-Mediated Ring-Contraction Reaction. Synthesis 2007, 3851–3857; (f) Liu, Q.; Zhao, Q. Y.; Liu, J.; Wu, P.; Yi, H.; Lei, A. A Trans Diacyloxylation of Indoles. Chem. Commun. 2012, 48, 3239–3241. (11) (a) Büchi, G.; Manning, R. E. Chemical Transformations of Ibogaine. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1966, 88, 2532–2535; (b) Higuchi, K.; Tayu, M.; Kawasaki, T. Active Thionium Species Mediated Functionalization at the 2α-Position of Indole Derivatives. Chem. Commun. 2011, 47, 6728–6730; (c) Zaimoku, H.; Hatta, T.; Taniguchi, T.; Ishibashi, H. Iodine-Mediated α-Acetoxylation of 2,3-Disubstituted Indoles. Org. Lett. 2012, 14, 6088–6091; (d) Nakano, Y.; Lupton, D. W. Palladium[II] Catalysed C(Sp3)–H Oxidation of Dimethyl Carbamoyl Tetrahydrocarbazoles. Chem. Commun. 2014, 50, 1757–1760; (e) Jiang, L.; Xie, X.; Zu, L. TertButyl Hypochlorite Mediated Diastereoselective Oxidative Coupling: Access to 1-Functionalized Tetrahydrocarbazoles. RSC Adv. 2015, 5, 9204–9207; (f) Klussmann, M.; Gulzar, N. Process for Preparing Substituted Indole Derivatives. WO/2014/016296, January 31, 2014. (12) (a) Nocquet-Thibault, S.; Rayar, A.; Retailleau, P.; Cariou, K.; Dodd, R. H. Iodine(III)-Mediated Diazidation and AzidoOxyamination of Enamides. Chem. – Eur. J. 2015, 21, 14205– 14210; (b) Yuan, Y.-A.; Lu, D.-F.; Chen, Y.-R.; Xu, H. IronCatalyzed Direct Diazidation for a Broad Range of Olefins. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 534–538; (c) Shen, S.-J.; Zhu, C.-L.; Lu, D.-F.; Xu, H. Iron-Catalyzed Direct Olefin Diazidation via Peroxyester Activation Promoted by Nitrogen-Based Ligands. ACS Catal. 2018, 8, 4473–4482; for earlier reports on dearomative diazidation of indoles: (d) Tamura, Y.; Kwon, S.; Tabusa, F.; Ikeda, M. Reaction of Iodine Azide with 1-Acylindoles: Formation of 1-Acyl-Cis- and Trans-2,3-Diazidoindolines. Tetrahedron Lett. 1975, 16, 3291–3294; (e) Tamura, Y.; Chun, M. W.; Kwon, S.; Said, M. B.; Okada, T.; Ikeda, M. Reaction of Benzo[b]Furan and 1-Acylindoles with Iodine Azide. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 1978, 26, 3515–3520; (f) Moriarty, R. M.; Khosrowshahi, J. S. A Versatile Synthesis of Vicinal Diazides Using Hypervalent Iodine. Tetrahedron Lett. 1986, 27, 2809–2812. (13) Isolated with 4% of dearomatized triazide 5n and 4% of alpha azidation product 8. The former arises from azidation of one of the C-H bond (C5 or C6) of the indole nucleus of 5m, while the latter may arise from 5m through an elimination similar to scheme 2B. N3

N3

N 5n Ts N3 (one isomer)

Me H

Me 8 N Ts

N3

H

(14) It is unclear to us how the addition of a small amount of TEMPO slightly increase the yield and avoid decomposition of 1. It might prevent the increase of the potential at the anode and therefore the decomposition of 1 at the end of the reaction when the concentration of 1 is too low. (15) In both reactions, gas evolution is observed at the cathode, which we believe is hydrogen produced by the reduction of methanol or adventitious water. In the diazidation, hexamethyldisilane was not detected by NMR when deuterated acetonitrile was used as solvent, therefore TMSN3 is probably not directly reduced at the cathode. (16) If a N3 radical was adding first to the indole, we would have expected the trapping of the resulting carbon radical with TEMPO (see ref 3a,d) which is not the case (Scheme 3, B). It is likely that TEMPO is oxidized instead of 1a and the resulting excess oxoammonium ion could react with methanol or TMSN3. (17) Indeed, the potential at the anode is quite high and could lead to side reactions. However, we have shown a reasonable functional groups compatibility during the present study. (18) The electrolysis of 2-cyclopropyl-N-Ts-indole with MeOH led to an intricate mixture of compounds with small amounts of indole 9 (5%) which results from the opening of the cyclopropyl by methanol. This result may suggest the existence of a radical

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intermediate at C2 and a step-wise process for the formation of IV from III. N 9 Ts

OMe OMe

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Nu = OR or N3 R R

Nu

R N EWG

R ROH or TMSN3

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R R N Nu EWG

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