Novel Approach to Isatins via Pd-Cu Catalyzed Oxidative Transformation

A new method of synthesizing isatin was developed and applied to the substrate extension to get a series of isatin compounds. Using N-alkyl substituted acrylanilide compounds as raw materials, in palladium acetate, cuprous iodide and under the catalysis and participation of oxygen, N-alkylated isatin derivatives could be synthesized with the yields of 42%-87%. Using this method, 23 isatin compounds were prepared and the possible reaction mechanism was proposed. This synthetic route reduces the use of protecting groups and is simple and efficient.