Palladium-Catalyzed Carbonylative Dearomatization of Indoles.

An interesting palladium-catalyzed dearomative carbonylation of N-(2-bromobenzoyl)indoles has been developed. The catalytic system is composed of commercially available Pd(OAc) and DPPP and uses alcohols and anilines as nucleophiles to afford moderate to good yields of the desired products. This method provides a straightforward access to diverse fused indoline esters and amides with good functional group tolerance. Remarkably, this is the first example of carbonylative dearomatization.