Reported herein is an effective strategy for oxidative cross-coupling of indoles with various aldehydes. The strategy is based on a two-step transformation via a well-known Mannich-type reaction and a C–N bond cleavage for carbonyl introduction. The key step—the C–N bond cleavage of the Mannich product—was enabled by electrochemistry. This strategy (with over 40 examples) ensures excellent functional-group
A novel palladium-catalyzed carbonylation of indoles with CO and aromatic boronic acids for the synthesis of indol-3-yl aryl ketones was developed. The reaction tolerates a wide range of functional groups and gives a variety of valuable indol-3-yl aryl ketones in high yields under mild conditions.