Oxidative C–H/N–H Annulation of Aromatic Amides with Dialkyl Malonates: Access to Isoindolinones and Dihydrobenzoindoles

A copper-mediated oxidative C–H/N–H annulation of aromatic amides with dialkyl malonates has been presented to afford synthetically valuable dihydrobenzoindoles and isoindolinones. The reaction proceeds through direct oxidative C­(sp2)–H/C­(sp3)–H coupling followed by an intramolecular N–H/C­(sp3)–H dehydrogenative coupling to deliver the target motifs with broad scope and functional group tolerance.