The ruthenium(ii)-catalyzed C-H olefination of indoles with alkynes: the facile construction of tetrasubstituted alkenes under aqueous conditions.

An environmentally-friendly and facile protocol for the construction of tetrasubstituted alkenes has been established with Ru(ii)-catalyzed C-H bond functionalizations under mild conditions. The method features the usage of readily available substrates, without external oxidants and additives, 100% atom economy, and excellent regioselectivity, thus enhancing the practicability of this protocol. Moreover, this transformation proceeded smoothly under aqueous conditions and could be extended to the gram scale. N-Methoxyamide, as a directing group (DG), played a vital role in the transformation.

InCl3-catalyzed 5-exo-dig cyclization/1,6-conjugate addition of N-propargylamides with p-QMs to construct oxazole derivatives.

An InCl3-catalyzed atom-economic intramolecular 5-exo-dig cyclization/1,6-conjugate addition/aromatization of N-propargylamides with p-QMs to produce oxazoles tethering diarylmethane has been successfully developed. InCl3 not only served as Lewis acid to catalyze the cyclization of propargylic amides but also activated the carbonyl of p-QMs to achieve the 1,6-addition process in a one-pot manner. The reaction has attractive features, including mild reaction conditions, broad scope of substrates, good yields, and scalability.