Palladium-Catalyzed Primary Amine-Directed Decarboxylative Annulation of α-Oxocarboxylic Acids: Access to Indolo[1,2-a]quinazolines

An efficient protocol for the preparation of indolo[1,2-a]quinazolines via palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative annulation of indols with alpha-oxocarboxylic acids has been realized by using primary amine as a directing group (DG). This transformation proceeds smoothly with exclusive regioselectivity and represents an one-pot Domino synthesis of indo-lo[1,2-a]quinazolines from alpha-oxocarboxylic acids.