FeCl3-promoted carboxamidation and cyclization of aryl isonitriles with formamides toward phenanthridine-6-carboxamides.

ABSTRACT

An iron-promoted tandem carboxamidation and cyclization between aryl isonitriles and formamides has been developed. The one-pot strategy can be applied to a wide range of 2-isocyanobiphenyls and formamides with excellent functional group tolerance for the synthesis of phenanthridine-6-carboxamides in moderate to excellent yields.