Facile Synthesis of Trisubstituted Carbazoles by Acid-Catalyzed Ring-Opening Annulation of 2-Amidodihydrofurans with Indoles.

A mild and convenient synthesis of carbazoles by TfOTMS (trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate)-catalyzed ring-opening annulation of 2-amidodihydrofurans is presented with a high degree of chemoselectivity and regioselectivity. This procedure was also scaled up to a gram-scale synthesis. The reaction could involve an iminonium intermediate through a series of C-O, C-N bond cleavages, C-C bond formations, and a 1,2-migration process.