Palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative benzylation of diphenylglycinate imines.

General reaction conditions for the Pd-catalyzed decarboxylative benzylation of benzyl diphenylglycinate imines are described. The overall procedure requires a simple catalyst/ligand combination to form a new Csp(3)-Csp(3) bond. Microwave irradiation greatly accelerated the transformation.

One-pot tandem decarboxylative allylation-Heck cyclization of allyl diphenylglycinate imines: rapid access to polyfunctionalized 1-aminoindanes.

1-Aminoindanes are generated from allyl diphenylglycinate imines employing a "one-pot" palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative allylation-Heck cyclization cascade. Variation of both the aryl and allyl moieties leads to a diverse range of polycyclic imines, amenable to the synthesis of natural products and other biologically relevant small molecules.