Oxidative C-H Activation Approach to Pyridone and Isoquinolone through an Iron-Catalyzed Coupling of Amides with Alkynes.

An iron catalyst combined with a mild organic oxidant promotes both C-H bond cleavage and C-N bond formation, and forms 2-pyridones and isoquinolones from an alkene- or arylamide and an internal alkyne, respectively. An unsymmetrical alkyne gives the pyridone derivative with high regioselectivity, this could be due to the sensitivity of the reaction to steric effects because of the compact size of iron.