Copper-mediated oxidative tandem reactions with molecular oxygen: synthesis of 2-arylbenzoxazinone derivatives from indoles

We developed an efficient method for the transformation of indoles by utilizing a copper catalyst and molecular oxygen as the oxidant. The transformation involves a tandem oxidative process of 2-arylindoles. Our reaction afforded a variety of N-benzoyl anthranilic acids and benzoxazinones. Our investigation revealed that the choice of solvent and additives is critical in these reactions.