A novel
strategy for the synthesis of imidazo-fused polycyclic
compounds under mild, base-free, and silver-free conditions by a rhodium(III)-catalyzed
C–H annulation of alkenyl or arylimidazoles and (hetero)cyclic
1,3-dicarbonyl compounds is reported here. Such a step-economic protocol
features the selective cleavage of two different C–H bonds
in one step, featuring easy operation, readily available starting
materials, gram-scale synthesis, broad functional group tolerance,
and no requirement to presynthesize carbene precursors. Notably, the
synthetic potential is showcased by the structural modification of
drug and the highly step-economic synthesis of Janus kinase inhibitor
in only three steps with a satisfactory 26% total yield (previous
method: in nine steps with 0.6% yield).