An Atom‐Economic Approach for Vinylation of Indoles and Phenols Using Calcium Carbide as Acetylene Surrogate

Abstract

An efficient N ‐vinylation of indoles and O ‐vinylation of phenols to give N ‐vinyl indoles and phenyl vinyl ethers is reported. The vinylated products can be produced in satisfactory to excellent yields (65–92 %) upon treatment of indoles or phenols with calcium carbide in wet solvents in a standard laboratory setup. Key features of this reaction include the use of calcium carbide as a safe and inexpensive slow released acetylene source for N ‐ and O ‐vinylation under simple reaction conditions without the need for metal catalyst or halogenated substrates.