Decarboxylative\nAminomethylation of Indole-3-carboxylic\nAcids via Strain Release-Driven Ring Opening of 1,2-Oxazetidines

A copper-catalyzed decarboxylative aminomethylation of\nindole-3-carboxylic\nacids with 1,2-oxazetidines has been developed, enabling the rapid\nsynthesis of structurally diverse 3-aminomethylindoles in good to\nexcellent yields. Remarkably, an unprecedented decarboxylative aminomethylation/cyclization\ncascade was further achieved by a combination of copper and iron salts\nto construct complex γ-carbolines with high efficiency. It is\nworth noting that one of the obtained products proved to be a good\ndual-emissive luminogen, exhibiting both aggregation-caused quenching\nand aggregation-induced emission.