Palladium-catalyzed cyclization of 1-alkynyl-8-iodonaphthalene and double isocyanides for the synthesis of acenaphtho[1,2-b]pyrroles

A palladium-catalyzed formal [2 + 2 + 1] cyclization of 1-alkynyl-8-iodonaphthalene with double isocyanides is developed herein. The transformation worked well to produce a series of 7H-acenaphtho[1,2-b]pyrrole with a broad reaction scope. Isocyanides play a dual role in the reaction. One is a C1 building block, and another is used as C1N1 component. In the process, the [2 + 2 + 1] cyclization involves imidoylation, regioselective addition of imidoylpalladium species into alkyne, double imidoylation, and another addition of the resulting imidoylpalladium species into imine bonds.