Palladium-Catalyzed Domino Intramolecular N-Arylation/Intermolecular C-C Bond Formation for the Synthesis of Functionalized Benzodiazepinediones

A divergent and regiocontrolled Pd-catalyzed domino sequence involving an intramol. N-arylation and an intermol. Heck reaction has been developed, providing rapid access to functionalized benzodiazepine-2,5-diones, e.g. I. The starting materials were synthesized by the Ugi four-component reaction. An unprecedented X-ray structure of a bispalladacycle was documented. [on SciFinder (R)]