A copper-catalyzed aerobic oxidative intramolecular alkene C-H amination has been developed using readily available substituted 3-benzylidene-2-pyridin-2-ylmethyl-2,3-dihydro-isoindol-1-ones as the starting materials, and the corresponding N-heterocycles were obtained in good to excellent yields. This method should provide a new and useful strategy for constructing N-heterocycles.

A convenient and efficient palladium-catalyzed synthesis of aromatic ketones and isoindolobenzimidazoles has been developed via selective aromatic C À H bond acylation. The protocol uses palladium acetate as the catalyst, readily available carboxylic acids as the acylating reagents, trifluoroacetic anhydride as the activated agent of the acids, and the corresponding aromatic ketones and isoindolobenzi-midazoles were obtained in good to excellent yields. This finding should provide a new and useful strategy for synthesis of aromatic ketones and isoindolobenzimidazoles.Scheme 4. Possible mechanism for the palladium-catalyzed synthesis of isoindolobenzimidazoles.

A convenient and efficient copper-catalyzed cascade method has been developed for the synthesis of benzimidazoquinazoline derivatives via reactions of readily available substituted 2-(2-halophenyl)benzoimidazoles with amidines or guanidine under mild conditions (even at room temperature).

A simple and efficient copper-catalyzed one-pot tandem method has been developed for synthesis of benzimidazo[1,2-b]isoquinolin-11-one derivatives via reactions of substituted 2-halo-N-(2-halophenyl)benzamides with alkyl 2-cyanoacetates or malononitrile under mild conditions.

By using N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as a CO source, nickel-catalyzed carbonylation of arylboronic acids was demonstrated as an efficient and facile protocol for the synthesis of diaryl ketones.