Cu(I)-catalyzed intramolecular cyclization of ene-carbamates: synthesis of indoles and pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridines

Over the past few years, the use of palladium-catalyzed aromatic carbon–nitrogen bond forming reactions by the cross-coupling of aryl halides or triflates and amines has become a useful synthetic tool. Herein, we describe a copper(I) catalyst system that allows efficient synthesis of functionalized indoles and pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridines. This method takes advantage of amino acid promoted copper coupling of amines with aryl halides, in particular, the use of the CuI/l-proline catalyst system.