One-Flow Synthesis of Substituted Indoles via Sequential 1,2-Addition/Nucleophilic Substitution of Indolyl-3-Carbaldehydes

Substituted indoles are important as drugs. A number of valuable indoles have been synthesized via nucleophilic substitution at the 3’-position of indoles. However, the preparation of an indolylmethyl electrophile containing a tertiary carbon at the 3’-position and its subsequent nucleophilic substitution are challenging owing to the instability of the electrophile. Herein, we demonstrated the rapid one-flow synthesis of indoles via sequential 1,2-addition/nucleophilic substitution of indolyl-3-carbaldehydes. The use of a microflow technology helped in suppressing the undesired reactions caused by the unstable intermediates, resulting in significantly higher yields and reproducibility compared to those under batch conditions. A crown ether was effective when 1-alkylindole-3-carboxaldehyde was used as a substrate. However, the crown ether exerted a detrimental effect when 1H-indole-3-carboxaldehyde was used. A total of 15 structurally diverse indole derivatives were obtained in generally acceptable to good yields.