Copper(II)- and palladium(II)-catalyzed enantioselective Claisen rearrangement of allyloxy- and propargyloxy-indoles to quaternary oxindoles and spirocyclic lactones.

In this Article, a strategy to obtain highly enantioselective catalysts for the Claisen rearrangement of allyloxy- and propargyloxy-indoles is outlined. Ultimately, copper BOX and palladium BINAP or PHOX catalysts were discovered as superior in catalyzing Claisen rearrangements of allyloxy- or proparyloxy-substituted indoles to generate oxindoles bearing allyl- or allenyl-substituted quaternary centers. This method proved to be tolerant of a broad range of functional groups. Tandem reactions of the silyl-allene products provide rapid access to a variety of spirocyclic oxindoles in one operation.