Palladium(0)-Catalyzed Heteroarylation of 2- and 3-Indolylzinc Derivatives. An Efficient General Method for the Preparation of (2-Pyridyl)indoles and Their Application to Indole Alkaloid Synthesis.

Palladium(0)-catalyzed coupling of (1-(benzenesulfonyl)-2-indolyl)zinc chloride (1) and (1-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-3-indolyl)zinc chloride (6) with diversely substituted (alkyl, methoxy, methoxycarbonyl, nitro, hydroxy) 2-halopyridines gives the corresponding 2- and 3-(2-pyridyl)indoles [4 and 7 (or 8), respectively] in excellent yields. A series of other 3-(heteroaryl)indoles (pyrazinyl, furyl, thienyl, indolyl) have been similarly prepared from 6. The potential of some of these (2-pyridyl)indoles in alkaloid synthesis is demonstrated. Thus, from 2-(2-pyridyl)indole 4b, a new synthetic entry to the indolo[2,3-a]quinolizidine system, involving stereoselective hydrogenation of the pyridine ring with subsequent electrophilic cyclization upon the indole 3-position from an appropriately N(b)-substituted 2-(2-piperidyl)indole, is reported. For this purpose, Pummerer cyclizations have been extensively studied. Whereas the indole-unprotected sulfoxide 17 gives the corresponding indoloquinolizidine 19 in low yield and mainly undergoes an abnormal Pummerer cyclization that ultimately leads to sulfide 18, the N(a)-protected sulfoxides 24a and 24b afford the respective indoloquinolizidines 25a,b in 70% yield. On the other hand, the conversion of 3-(2-pyridyl)indole 8k into tetracyclic ketone 35 by stereoselective hydrogenation, followed by cyclization of the resulting all-cis-3-(2-piperidyl)indole 34, represents a formal synthesis of Strychnos alkaloids with the strychnan skeletal type (tubifoline, tubifolidine, 19,20-dihydroakuammicine). A similar conversion of 8j into nordasycarpidone constitutes a formal synthesis of the alkaloids of the uleine group. Reduction of nordasycarpidone leads to tetracycle 37, an advanced intermediate in a previous synthesis of tubotaiwine, a Strychnos alkaloid with the aspidospermatan skeletal type. Finally, piperidylindole 34 was transformed into tetracycle 41, an ABDE substructure of akuammiline alkaloids, by a sequence involving the skeletal rearrangement of an intermediate spiroindolenine as the crucial step.