Shuang Gu, Yue Wang, Mengxi Lu, Honghao Sun, J Liu, L J Zhou, Bing Zheng, Hongchao Guo
A palladium-catalyzed [4 + 2] cycloaddition of isatin-derived hydroxy-tethered allylic carbonates with 1,1-dicyanoalkenes has been developed to afford various spirooxindole-tetrahydropyran derivatives in moderate to high yields with excellent diastereoselectivities. The scale-up reaction and further derivations of the product also worked well. The current reaction demonstrated that isatin-derived hydroxy-tethered allylic carbonates are viable precursors for palladium-catalyzed cycloaddition reactions and are expected to find broader applications.