Indium trichloride catalyzed sp3 C–H bond functionalization of 2-alkyl azaarenes under microwave irradiation

Microwave promoted indium trichloride (10 mol %) catalyzed sp3 C–H bond functionalization of 2-alkyl azaarenes 1 or 4 has been observed to construct C–C bond either with but-2-ene-1,4-diones 2 or (E)-3-(2-oxo-2-phenylethylidene)indolin-2-one (6) giving access to 2-((quinolin-2-yl)methyl)butane-1,4-diones 3, 2-((pyridin-2-yl)methyl)butane-1,4-diones 5, or 3-(quinolin-2-yl)propan-2-yl)indolin-2-ones 7 in good yields using 1,4-dioxane as solvent.