Iron-catalyzed carbonylation–arylation of N-arylacrylamides for synthesis of oxindole derivatives

An efficient method for oxindole synthesis is established by iron-catalyzed carbonylation–arylation of N-arylacrylamides with aldehydes. 3-Functionalized oxindoles are synthesized smoothly using FeCl3 as catalyst and TBHP as oxidant. The obtained oxindoles can be used for further transformations to give diverse indole alkaloid structure motifs.