Natural α-Amino Acids Applied in the Synthesis of Imidazo[1,5-a]N-heterocycles under Mild Conditions

A facile iodine-mediated decarboxylative cyclization from alpha-amino acids and N-heterocyclic carbaldehydes was developed. By virtue of this method, a series of imidazo[1,5-a]N-heterocycles can be synthesized efficiently under mild conditions. A tentative reaction mechanism was proposed based on the experimental results and previous reports.