Ruthenium(II)-catalyzed decarbonylative and decarboxylative coupling of isatoic anhydrides with salicylaldehydes: access to aryl 2-aminobenzoates.

A ruthenium(II)-catalyzed coupling reaction of isatoic anhydrides and salicylaldehydes has been developed for the synthesis of 2-aminobenzoates. This reaction proceeds through metal-catalyzed decarbonylation and decarboxylation to afford good yields of aryl 2-aminobenzoates.