A concise synthesis of (S)-14-azacamptothecin has been accomplished in 8 steps from commercially available (R)-2-hydroxybutanoic acid. The key strategy involved in this synthesis is the Michael addition/β-elimination sequence to construct the chiral quaternary carbon center, followed by palladium catalyzed cyanation and formal [4 + 2] cycloaddition/elimination/aromatization in a one pot manner ...

An unprecedented Pd-catalyzed hydrohalogenation of alkynyl halides for the regio- and stereoselective synthesis of (Z)-1,2-dihaloalkenes has been realized using [(allyl)PdCl](2) as the catalyst and cis,cis-1,5-cyclooctadiene as the ligand. The advantages of this protocol are well illustrated by the assembly of trisubstituted (Z)-enynes and multifunctional benzenes via iterative cross-coupling r...

We report a novel organocatalytic one-pot cascade bromination-Michael-type Friedel-Crafts alkylation dearomatization-nucleophilic rearrangement aromatization cascade process for the direct α-indolylation of unfunctionalized enals from readily available indoles with good yields and high E selectivity. The simplicity and practicality of its high efficiency for formation of a new C(sp(2))-C(sp(2))...