Palladium-catalyzed intramolecular γ-lactam formation of an aryl halide and an enolate: synthesis of isoindolobenzazepine alkaloids, lennoxamine, 13-deoxychilenine, and chilenine

A facile synthetic path to isoindolobenzazepine alkaloids, lennoxamine, 13-deoxychilenine, and chilenine, was established by employing a palladium-catalyzed intramolecular α-arylation of the ketone, as the key step.