Visible light-induced aerobic oxidative cross-coupling of glycine derivatives with indoles: a facile access to 3,3′ bisindolylmethanes

A visible light-induced aerobic oxidative cross-coupling of glycine derivatives with indoles has been developed to efficiently synthesize 3,3′-bisindolylmethanes (BIMs). The reaction proceeds smoothly under mild conditions and exhibits good tolerance of functional groups. The applicability of this method was highlighted in the expedient total syntheses of the alkaloid natural products streptindole and arsindoline B in two steps, respectively.