Highly chemo- and enantioselective synthesis of 3-allyl-3-aryl oxindoles via the direct palladium-catalyzed alpha-arylation of amides.

A new NHC x Pd-catalyzed asymmetric alpha-arylation of amides is reported that gives direct access to synthetically valuable, allylated oxindoles with quaternary carbon centers. The reaction is made possible by the introduction of a new chiral NHC ligand. The palladium complexes derived therefrom combine excellent reactivity with high chemo- and enantioselectivity for the title transformation.