Atroposelective Synthesis of 3-Aryl-Indoles Through a One-Pot 2,3-Difunctionalization of Simple Indoles

Indole and its derivatives represent the most important heterocycles that are widely present in bioactive molecules, natural products and advanced materials, and thus functionalization of simple indoles to construct complex indole derivatives is a research area of great current interest. 2,3-Difunctionalization of indoles has been extensively studied, but the reported examples are limited to the synthesis of 2,3-disubstituted indole derivatives or dearomatized products containing central chirality. Until now, atroposelective 2,3-difunctionalization of simple indoles for the synthesis of axially chiral molecules is unknown. In this article, we report a straightforward and general strategy for atroposelective 2,3-difunctionalization of simple indoles, forming indole-containing axially chiral products in good yields and excellent enantioselectivities. The strategy we introduce herein may lead to the discovery of new approaches for multifunctionalization of indoles and other heterocyclic scaffolds, thus accessing novel axially chiral heteroarene-containing scaffolds that may find applications in medicinal chemistry and asymmetric catalysis.