Rhodium(III)-Catalyzed Oxidative Cross-Coupling of N -Pyrimidylindoles with Cyclic β-Keto Esters for Accessing All-Carbon Quaternary Centers.

Rh(III)-catalyzed direct oxidative C-H/C-H cross-coupling between N -pyrimidylindoles and β-ketoesters is presented. Easily available β-ketoesters are used as an alkylating agent for the facile construction of all-carbon quaternary centers under mild conditions. The ester group in the product can undergo decarboxylation or decarboxylative amination.