Palladium-Catalyzed Diastereoselective Formal [5 + 3] Cycloaddition for the Construction of Spirooxindoles Fused with an Eight-Membered Ring.

A Pd-catalyzed formal [5 + 3] intermolecular cycloaddition reaction of isatin-derived α-(trifluoromethyl)imines with aryl substituted vinylethylene carbonates (VECs) has been reported, affording trifluoromethyl-group-containing spirooxindoles fused with an eight-membered ring as a single diastereoisomer in good yields in the presence of a Brønsted acid in a one-pot manner under mild conditions. The asymmetric version of this reaction has been also realized using a chiral phosphine ligand along with the further transformation of the obtained product to give a spirooxindolo pyrrolidine derivative upon oxidation.