Indole readily undergoes nucleophilic substitution at the C3 site, and many indole derivatives have been functionalized using this property. Indole also forms indolium, which allows electrophilic addition in acidic conditions, but current examples have been limited to intramolecular reactions. C2 site-selective nucleophilic addition to indole derivatives using fluoroalcohol and a Lewis acid was developed.

Oxidative C–H coupling reactions were conducted using graphene oxide (GO) as an oxidant. GO showed high selectivity compared with commonly used oxidants such as (diacetoxyiodo) benzene and 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone. A mechanistic study revealed that radical species contributed to the reaction. After the oxidative coupling reaction, GO was reduced to form a material that shows electron conductivity and high specific capacitance. Therefore, this system could concurrently achieve two important reactions: C–C bond formation via C–H transformation and production of functionalized graphene.

A reductive coupling reaction using two-dimensional nanocarbon, i.e., reduced graphene oxide (rGO), as a carbocatalyst and/or a reaction initiator was developed. The radical species on the rGO played an important role in the coupling reaction.

The formation of indolium is described allowing for the 2‐selective inter‐ as well as intramolecular highly regioselective nucleophilic addition of electron rich aromatic compounds.