Palladium-catalyzed decarbonylative annulation of phthalimides with arynes: direct construction of phenanthridinones

Abstract

A novel palladium-catalyzed decarbonylative annulation for the synthesis of phenanthridinones from phthalimides and arynes has been developed. This catalytic system tolerates a broad range of functional groups. Mechanistic experiments demonstrate that the Pd(II) complex B is the key intermediate, which has been confirmed by X-ray crystallography for the first time.