Palladium—Copper-Cocatalyzed Intramolecular Oxidative Coupling: An Efficient and Atom-Economical Strategy for the Synthesis of 3-Acylindoles.

A new and efficient catalytic approach to the synthesis of 3-acylindoles under Pd-Cu-cocatalyzed oxidative conditions is demonstrated. tert-Butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) acts not only as the oxidant, but also as an oxygen source in the approach. The process allows quick and atom-economical assembly of 3-acylindoles from readily available starting materials and tolerates a broad range of functional groups.