No abstract

|Chem. Rev. 2011, 111, PR215-PR283Chemical Reviews REVIEW Finally, one can reasonably anticipate that future studies will provide new applications to the preparation of complex molecules, particularly in the area of biologically active compounds.

A variety of functionalities, including the whole range of halogen substituents, are tolerated in the title reaction, an intramolecular approach for the construction of a multisubstituted indole skeleton from readily available enaminones (see scheme; phen=1,10‐phenanthroline). The indole products are also prepared directly in high yield from α,β‐ynones and primary amines.

N-Propargylic beta-enaminones have been used as common intermediates for the synthesis of polysubstituted pyrroles and pyridines. Best results have been obtained using DMSO as solvent. In the presence of Cs(2)CO(3) N-propargylic beta-enaminones are cyclized to pyrroles in good to high yields, whereas omitting bases and using CuBr leads to the selective formation of pyridines.