Palladium/Norbornene Chemistry in the Synthesis of Polycyclic Indolines with Simple Nitrogen Sources

An efficient procedure has been developed to synthesize ­indoline derivatives through a palladium-catalyzed Heck reaction/C–H activation/dual amination cascade in one pot. This constitutes the first intermolecular catalytic approach to directly access N-alkylindolines with a broad substrate scope in the absence of any ligands. This method highlights the use of readily available amines and ureas as the required nitrogen sources in building up the indoline core.