Copper-Promoted Direct Decarboxylative C3-Acylation of Electron-Rich Indolizines Using α-Keto Acids

C-3 substituted indolizines are important biological heterocycles and luminescent molecules. The development of new methods for direct arylation of indolizines is highly desired. Herein, the C3-acylation of electron-rich indolizines with alpha-keto acids through Cu-promoted decarboxylation was descried. Under this simple reaction conditions, a variety of indolizine derivatives were synthesized and characterized. The structure of product 3 a was confirmed in an X-ray crystal analysis. In addition, the mechanism was also proposed.

Automated summary

In this study, a Cu-promoted reaction method for C3-acylation of electron-rich indolizines was described. The reaction conditions were simple and various indolizine derivatives were successfully synthesized and characterized. The structure of product 3a was confirmed, and a proposed mechanism was also presented.