Cascade alkylarylation of substituted N-allylbenzamides for the construction of dihydroisoquinolin-1(2H)-ones and isoquinoline-1,3(2H,4H)-diones.

An oxidative reaction for the synthesis of 4-alkyl-substituted dihydroisoquinolin-1(2H)-ones with N-allylbenzamide derivatives as starting materials has been developed. The radical alkylarylation reaction proceeds through a sequence of alkylation and intramolecular cyclization. The substituent on the C-C double bond was found to play a key role for the progress of the reaction to give the expected products with good chemical yields. Additionally, N-methacryloylbenzamides were also suitable substrates for the current reaction and provided the alkyl-substituted isoquinoline-1,3(2H,4H)-diones in good yield.