Two (Z)-N-aryl-3-benzylideneisoindolin-1-ones

Two isoindolin-1-one derivatives, (Z)3-benzylidene-N-phenylisoindolin-1-one, C21H15NO, (II), and (Z)-3-benzylidene-N- (4-methoxyphenyl) isoindolin-1-one, C22H17NO2, (III), were synthesized by the palladium-catalysed hetero-annulation. The molecules of both compounds have a Z configuration. The interplanar angles between the five- and six-membered rings of the isoindolinone moiety in (II) and (III) are 1.66 (11) and 2.26 (7)degrees, respectively. The phenyl rings at the N-position in (II) and (III) are twisted out of the C4N ring plane by 62.77(11) and 67.10(7)degrees, respectively. The substitutions at the N and C-3 positions of the isoindolinone system have little influence on the molecular dimensions of the resulting compounds.