Cobalt-catalyzed synthesis demonstrates effective oxygen migration in fused tetrahydro-β-carbolines, indicating a novel approach for complex molecules.
A cobalt-catalyzed, hydrogen-bond-promoted strategy for the synthesis of sterically congested fused tetrahydro-β-carbolines bearing quaternary carbon centers is reported. This transformation employs tryptamine-derived isocyanides and anthranils as readily available building blocks and proceeds through a tandem oxygen migration and cyclization process with high atom economy. Moderate to good yields are obtained for structurally diverse products. Water plays a crucial role by providing a hydrogen-bonding environment and serving as a proton shuttle to facilitate the reaction process, which is supported by isotope-labeling experiments and DFT calculations.
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Zhou et al. (2026) studied this question.
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