Palladium-Catalyzed Cascade Cyclization of Alkene-Tethered Aryl Halides with o-Bromobenzoic Acids: Access to Diverse Fused Indolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines.

A novel palladium-catalyzed cascade cyclization of alkene-tethered aryl halides with o-bromobenzoic acids is described, which provides an efficient avenue for building various fused hexacyclic scaffolds containing indolo[2,1-a]isoquinoline in moderate to excellent yield. The method enables the construction of three C-C bonds through an intramolecular carbopalladation, C-H activation, and a decarboxylation sequence. Furthermore, dihydrocyclohepta[de]naphthalene-fused indolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines can be synthesized in moderate yield by constructing a seven-membered ring.