LiO<i>t</i>Bu-promoted synthesis of bis(3-indolyl)methanes by the alkylation of indoles with alcohols under air

Abstract

-butoxide base. Notably, oxygen in air played an important role as an oxidant for the facilitation of this transformation. Interestingly, unactivated aliphatic alcohols could be successfully used as alkylating reagents in the alkylation reactions of indole. Especially, several chemical intermediates detected by GC-MS gave important information about the mechanism insights. This method demonstrated cost and environmental advantages for the development of green processes.