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Updated: Feb 13, 2026

Light-driven Enzymatic Decarboxylation
Published on: May 22, 2016
Synthesis of indoles from aroyloxycarbamates with alkynes via decarboxylation/cyclization
Nuannuan Ma1, Peihe Li1, Zheng Wang1
1Key Laboratory of Cluster Science of Ministry of Education, Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China. daiqipu@bit.edu.cn cwhu@bit.edu.cn.
Abstract:
An efficient Pd-catalyzed decarboxylation/cyclization of aroyloxycarbamates to realize substituted indoles has been disclosed. Terminal alkynes as the coupling partners lead to site specific 2-substituted indoles through two pathways, while internal alkynes with aroyloxycarbamates can be transformed to 2,3-disubstituted indoles directly. This protocol is further demonstrated by the efficient synthesis of indoles as well as the success of employing inexpensive aryl acids as starting materials to construct C-N bonds by releasing CO2.
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Dehydration Synthesis
Dehydration synthesis (also called a condensation reaction) is the chemical process in which two molecules covalently link together to form a new molecule, along with the release of a water molecule. Many physiologically important compounds form by dehydration synthesis reactions, such as complex carbohydrates, proteins, DNA, and RNA.
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Acidity of 1-Alkynes
The acidic strength of hydrocarbons follows the order: Alkynes > Alkenes > Alkanes. The strength of an acid is commonly expressed in units of pKa — the lower the pKa, the stronger the acid. Among the hydrocarbons, terminal alkynes have lower pKa values and are, therefore, more acidic. For example, the pKa values for ethane, ethene, and acetylene are 51, 44, and 25, respectively, as shown here.