Construction of 2,3-Naphthalimides through Cu-Catalyzed Decarboxylative Coupling between Arylpropiolic Acids and Isocyanides

Herein, we report a one-pot strategy to synthesize functionalized 2,3-naphthalimides by a copper-catalyzed coupling between arylpropiolic acids and isocyanides followed by a dehydro-Diels-Alder (DDA) reaction. The reaction proceeds through the formation of an iminopropynyl-copper complex that accepts the second mole of acid, facilitating Mumm-type rearrangement to generate propioloyl-propiolamides that undergo DDA reaction. The method enables the synthesis of a wide range of 2,3-naphthalimides in a single step.