Synthesis of polycyclic substituted vinylarenes via a one-pot intramolecular aryl alkylation-N-tosylhydrazone insertion reaction.

A novel method of a palladium-catalyzed/norbornene-mediated intramolecular C-H activation/N-tosylhydrazones insertion reaction is developed. In this process, various bicyclic or tricyclic substituted vinylarenes are obtained with high efficiency under mild conditions.