Palladium-catalyzed oxidative cross-coupling of azole-4-carboxylates with indoles: an approach to the synthesis of pimprinine

An efficient and straightforward method for the production of 5-(3-indolyl)azoles incorporating the privileged structures indoles and azoles via palladium-catalyzed double C-H bond cleavage under mild conditions was disclosed. As expected, this protocol provided an easy method for the synthesis of indole alkaloids pimprinine and WS-30581 A in moderate yields.