A route to triazole-fused sultams via metal-free base-mediated cyclization of sulfonamide-tethered 5-iodotriazoles.

An efficient direct approach to triazole-fused sultams has been developed. The key step of the proposed strategy is base-mediated cyclization of sulfonamide-tethered 5-iodo-1,2,3-triazoles which are readily available via an improved protocol for Cu-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition. The annulation of the sultam fragment to the triazole ring proceeds smoothly under transition-metal-free conditions in the presence of Cs2CO3 in dioxane at 100 degrees C and affords fused heterocycles in high yields up to 99%. The favorability of an SNAr-like mechanism for the cyclization was supported by DFT calculations. The applicability of the developed procedure to modification of natural compounds was demonstrated by preparation of a deoxycholic acid derivative.