Indole-Fused Benzoxepine Synthesis via Visible-Light-Driven Aerobic Dehydrogenative [5+2] Annulation

A photocatalyzed oxidative dehydrogenative annulation between 2-(1H-indol-2-yl)-phenols and alkenylphenols is presented. Various indole-fused benzoxepines can be obtained at room temperature using atom-efficient strategies. This method not only avoids the use of stoichiometric amounts of oxidants but also exhibits excellent atom economy by generating H2O as the only theoretical byproduct.