Silver-Catalyzed Decarboxylative Acylarylation of Acrylamides with α-Oxocarboxylic Acids in Aqueous Media

A mild and efficient silver-catalyzed acylarylation of activated alkenes with easily available alpha-oxocarboxylic acids has been developed. The reactions provide a rapid access to a variety of functionalized oxindoles via a tandem decarboxylative radical cyclization strategy. This transformation proceeds well under mild reaction conditions and exhibits excellent functional group tolerance, affording the desired oxindoles in good to excellent yields.