Stereospecific N-acylation of indoles and corresponding microwave mediated synthesis of pyrazinoindoles using hexafluoroisopropanol

Abstract We envisioned a facile construction of diversified pyrazinoindoles by using 1,1,1,3,3,3-Hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) as the solvent and catalyst, hence eliminating metal catalyzed routes for its development. The process is facilitated by HFIP that has emerged as a powerful tool for development of novel fused heterocycles. This cascade approach blends the asymmetric N-acylation with consecutive intramolecular cyclisation via Pictet-Spengler reaction as an efficient tool forming overall two stereogenic centers. Our approach deals with incorporation of l -amino acid on substituted indoles to provide the chiral N-acylated indole precursor followed by cyclisation to access pyrazinoindole derivatives in high enantiomeric excess up to >99% in good to excellent yields, which have great potential as molecular scaffolds in drug discovery. We have also described the mechanistic course of the reaction based on density functional theory.