Lewis Acid-Catalyzed Generation of C-C and C-N Bonds on π-Deficient Heterocyclic Substrates

Focused microwave irradiation of a series of halogenated nitrogen heterocycles and different kinds of nucleophiles in the presence of a catalytic amount of indium trichloride leads to the efficient and completely regioselective generation of aromatic C-C and C-N bonds. The method is simple, rapid, general and inexpensive, and can be performed without the use of dried solvents. Most of the synthetized compounds are new and in many cases the work-up required only filtration. Furthermore, this is the first example of the use of a Lewis acid as a catalyst for heteroarylation, vinylation and amination reactions on pi-deficient heterocyclic substrates.