Iodine-Catalyzed 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition/Oxidation/Aromatization Cascade with Hydrogen Peroxide as the Terminal Oxidant: General Route to Pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines

We report a novel molecular iodine-catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition/oxidation/aromatization cascade process with hydrogen peroxide as the terminal oxidant for the construction of pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines. The product pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines were obtained from reactions between simple, readily available dipolarophiles and tetrahydroisoquinolines in moderate to excellent yields without the need for a metal catalyst.