Dearomatization Strategy and Palladium-Catalyzed Domino Reaction: Construction of Azepino[5,4,3-cd]indoles from 2‑Alkynylanilines

A facile approach to construct 3,4-fused tricyclic azepino­[5,4,3-cd]­indoles from 2-alkynyl anilines, isocyanides, and α,β-unsaturated acids is reported. This synthetic process involves a regioselective meta-functionalization of 2-alkynylanilines using a dearomatization strategy and a palladium­(II)-catalyzed domino heterocyclization/Heck reaction.