A novel direct C4 benzylation of indoles utilizing 2-benzyloxyindoles has been developed to access 4-benzyl-2-oxindoles. This strategy involves the in situ formation of isotoluene intermediates via benzyl Claisen rearrangements, which undergoes Cope rearrangement and aromatization. The method provides the desired products in moderate to high yields and shows good functional group tolerance.

The regioselective synthesis of both 2-and 3-alkoxyindoles from a common intermediate, 2-alkoxy-3-bromoindolines (ROBIN), is described. The 2-alkoxyindoles are obtained by a base-promoted regioselective elimination of HBr from ROBIN, whereas the synthesis of 3-alkoxyindoles is achieved by a silvermediated alkoxylation followed by an acid-promoted elimination of alkoxide. This key elimination features the complete regioselectivity and no need for catalysts, that makes it have potential synthetic applications. Furthermore, this protocol is user friendly because ROBIN is able to be prepared from commercially available indoles and is a bench-stable easy-to-handle crystalline substrate, thus allowing the concise synthesis of a variety of both 2-and 3-alkoxyindoles.