Palladium-Catalyzed Synthesis of Dihydrobenzoindolones via C-H Bond Activation and Alkyne Insertion.

A palladium-catalyzed intramolecular carbopalladation, intramolecular C-H bond activation, and alkyne insertion sequence for the generation of dihydrobenzoindolones is described. Products are obtained in moderate to excellent yields as single regioisomers. Various functional groups on both reaction partners were tolerated, and the scalability of this method was determined.