An improved Bischler indole synthesis to obtain 2-arylindole scaffolds

Organic Chemistry Division, School of Advanced Sciences, VIT University, Vellore-632 014,

Tamilnadu, India

E-mail : slmanju@vit.ac.in

In this paper, an economical and improved Bischler indole method to obtain 2-arylindoles in a single step without any catalyst under thermal condition is described. Reaction between α-bromoarylethanones (1 equi.) and aniline (1 equi.) on reflux in dimethylformamide afforded 2-arylindoles in 85–90% yield within 20 min. All the synthesized 2- aryl indoles were characterized by spectral analyses such as FT-IR, GC-MS and NMR techniques.