Copper-Catalyzed Trifluoromethylation of Aliphatic N-Arylhydrazones: A Concise Synthetic Entry to 2-Trifluoromethylindoles from Simple Aldehydes

The copper-catalyzed C(sp(2))-H trifluoromethylation of N,N-disubstituted hydrazones using the Togni reagent is demonstrated to proceed efficiently for aliphatic aldehyde-derived substrates. The success of the reactions relied on the choice of the N, N-diphenylamino group as the terminal hydrazone amino group where N,N-dialkylamino groups were preferred for (hetero)aromatic aldehyde-derived substrates. In addition, the trifluoromethylated N-arylhydrazones are shown to be ideal substrates for Fischer indole synthesis allowing a straightforward, three-step access to 2-trifluoromethylindole derivatives from simple aldehydes.