Palladium-catalyzed arylic/allylic aminations: permutable domino sequences for the synthesis of dihydroquinolines from Morita-Baylis-Hillman adducts.

An efficient palladium-catalyzed synthesis of 1,2-dihydroquinolines has been developed via the reaction between anilines and Morita-Baylis-Hillman adducts derived from o-bromobenzaldehyde. This new Pd(0)-catalyzed pseudo-domino type I sequence involves a Buchwald-Hartwig arylic amination and an allylic amination. When starting from an o-bromo allylic alcohol, the chronology is arylic amination/allylic arylation. However, the sequence reverses when the reaction is performed on the corresponding o-bromo allylic acetate.