Nickel(II)-Catalyzed Formal [3+2] Cycloadditions between Indoles and Donor-Acceptor Cyclopropanes.

This article describes the development of a nickel-catalyzed regio- and diastereoselective formal [3+2] cycloaddition between -substituted indoles and donor-acceptor cyclopropanes to synthesize cyclopenta[]indoles. Optimized reaction conditions provide the desired nitrogen-containing cycloadducts in up to 93% yield and 8.6:1 with complete regioselectivity. The substrate scope showed high tolerance to various substituted indoles and cyclopropanes, resulting in the synthesis of six new cyclopenta[]indoles and the isolation of five derivatives previously reported in the literature. In addition, a mechanistic proposal for the reaction was studied through online reaction monitoring by ESI-MS, allowing for the identification of the reactive intermediates in the Ni(II) catalyzed process. X-ray crystallography confirmed the structure and relative endo stereochemistry of the products. This method enables the fast and efficient construction of fused indolines from readily accessible starting materials.