H 2 SO 4 catalyzed tandem alkylation-hydrolysis reaction of β -ethylthio- β -indolyl- α , β -unsaturated ketones and alcohols: Feasible synthesis of α -alkylated 3-aroylacetylindoles and 3-arylpropionylindoles

Abstract

H2SO4 catalyzed tandem alkylation-hydrolysis reaction of β-ethylthio-β-indolyl-α, β-unsaturated ketones and alcohols has been developed to access α-alkylated 3-aroylacetylindoles in up to 90% yield. Subsequent debenzoylation of α-alkylated 3-aroylacetylindoles in the presence of 1.0 equivalent of NaOH provides 3-arylpropionylindoles in excellent yields. The facile accessibility of various valuable α-alkylated 3-aroylacetylindoles and 3-arylpropionylindoles demonstrates the high practicability of this method.