Electrochemical Oxidative Addition of Nucleophiles on 2-Arylindoles: Synthesis of C2-Heteroquaternary Indolin-3-ones.

An electrochemical method has been developed to synthesize 2,2-disubstituted indolin-3-ones under mild conditions. A series of nucleophiles have been added to the 2-arylindole-3-ones, generated in situ under metal-free electrochemical oxidative dearomatization of 2-arylindoles, to afford 2,2-disubstituted 3-carbonyl indoles with heteroquaternary centers in 57-79% yields.