FRIEDEL-CRAFTS ALKYLATION OF INDOLES WITH ENONES: SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF 3-SUBSTITUTED INDOLES

Abstract

Indole moiety is a key constituent of many biologically important natural and unnatural compounds. Among the derivatives of indoles, 3-substituted indoloyl ketones are important building blocks for the synthesis of several natural products. Consequently, alkylation of indoles has attracted tremendous attention for simplification or improvement of the existing methods. Synthesis of 3-substituted indoles from the reaction of different indoles with enones using copper(II) chloride as a novel catalyst is described. This methodology proved to be very efficient with several sets of indoles and enones at room temperature to afford the products in reasonable yields without noticeable side reactions. All the products are characterized completely based on IR, NMR and GC-MS spectral analysis