Novel palladium-catalyzed synthesis of 1,2-dihydro-4(3H)-carbazolones

Two sequential palladium-catalyzed reactions are the key steps in a novel synthetic route to carbazolones, an intermolecular Stille coupling followed by a recently developed palladium-catalyzed reductive N-heteroannulation. A number of functionalized 1,2-dihydro-4(3H)-carbazolones were prepared using this sequence.