Catalytic Synthesis of Azepinoindoles from Ynamides Containing Indolyl Moieties <i>via</i> Ruthenium–Vinylidene Species

Ruthenium-vinylidene intermediates derived from ynamides show great promise for synthesizing nitrogen-containing heterocycles. Azepinoindoles are significant in medicinal chemistry owing to their varied biological activities. Different azepinoindole frameworks feature diverse fused arrays of indole and azepine rings. In this study, we introduce a ruthenium-catalyzed approach based on ynamide chemistry to produce various azepinoindole frameworks using ynamides with an indole unit. Mechanistic insights were obtained through deuterium labeling experiments.