A Palladium(II)‐Catalyzed C?H Activation Cascade Sequence for Polyheterocycle Formation

Polyheterocycles are found in many natural products and are useful moieties in functional materials and drug design. As part of a program towards the synthesis of Stemona alkaloids, a novel palladium(II)‐catalyzed C H activation strategy for the construction of such systems has been developed. Starting from simple 1,3‐dienyl‐substituted heterocycles, a large range of polycyclic systems containing pyrrole, indole, furan and thiophene moieties can be synthesized in a single step.     

Palladium(II)‐Catalyzed Allylic C?H Oxidation of Hindered Substrates Featuring Tunable Selectivity Over Extent of Oxidation

The use of Oxone and a palladium(II) catalyst enables the efficient allylic C H oxidation of sterically hindered α‐quaternary lactams which are unreactive under known conditions for similar transformations. This simple, safe, and effective system for C H activation allows for unusual tunable selectivity between a two‐electron oxidation to the allylic acetates and a four‐electron oxidation to the corresponding enals, with the dominant product depending on the presence or absence of water. The versatile synthetic utility of both the allylic acetate and enal products accessible through this methodology is also demonstrated.