Synlett 2004(5): 0883-0885  
DOI: 10.1055/s-2004-820015
LETTER
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

A Practical Synthesis of 2-Aryl-Indole-6-carboxylic Acids

Fabrice Gallou*a, Nathan Yeea, Fenghe Qiua, Chris Senanayakea, Guenter Linzb, Juergen Schnaubeltb, Rainer Soykab
a Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Department of Chemical Development, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 900 Ridgebury Rd / P.O. Box 368, Ridgefield, CT 06877-0368, USA
Fax: +1(203)7916130; e-Mail: fgallou@rdg.boehringer-ingelheim.com;
b Department of Chemical Development, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Birkendorfer Strasse 65, 88397 Biberach/Riss, Germany
Further Information

Publication History

Received 22 January 2004
Publication Date:
24 February 2004 (online)

Abstract

A practical synthesis of 2-aryl-indole-6-carboxylic acids was developed via a sequence consisting of SNAr reaction, reductive cyclization, hydrolysis and decarboxylation. This process is ­efficient in terms of operational simplicity, cost effectiveness and is amenable to large scale production.

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The spectral data of compounds 4 and 5 were obtained from the NMR of the mixture. Not all the coupling constants could be calculated due to overlapping signals. Compound 4: 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6): δ = 8.59 (d, J = 1.3 Hz, 1 H), 8.28 (d, J = 1.3 Hz, 1 H), 8.06 (d, J = 4.5 Hz, 1 H), 7.88 (m, 1 H), 7.86 (m, 1 H), 7.69 (dd, J = 1.3, 4.5 Hz, 1 H), 7.67 (dd, J = 1.3, 7.8 Hz, 1 H), 6.83 (s, 1 H), 4.27 (q, 2 H), 1.25 (t, 3 H). Compound 5: 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6): δ = 8.50-7.20 (m, 3 H), 4.09 (s, 2 H), 4.17 (q, 2 H), 1.25 (t, 3 H). Compound 6: MS: calcd 267.24; found: (M + 1) 268.27.

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The use of fluoride as a better leaving group for the SNAr reaction was evaluated but showed little improvement. The less expensive and commercially available aryl chloride was preferred in this study.