A multimetallic piano-stool Ir-Sn3 catalyst for nucleophilic substitution reaction of γ-hydroxy lactams through N-acyliminium ions.

A multimetallic piano-stool complex [Cp*Ir(SnCl(3))(2){SnCl(2)(H(2)O)(2)}] (1) having Ir-Sn(3) motif has been synthesized from [Cp*IrCl(2)](2) and SnCl(2). The multimetallic complex catalytically promotes the nucleophilic substitution reaction (here after α-amidoalkylation reaction) of γ-hydroxylactams generated from phthalimidals to obtain decorated isoindolinones in excellent yields. Succinamidals, however, lead to the substituted pyrrolidinones (thermodynamic control product) via S(N)1-type path as well as eliminated pyrrolinones (kinetic control product) via an E1-type path, depending on the reaction parameters. A straightforward application of this methodology is to synthesize benzo-fused indolizidine alkaloid mimics.