Scaffold-Divergent Synthesis of Ring-Fused Indoles, Quinolines, and Quinolones via Iodonium-Induced Reaction Cascades

N-(2-Iodophenyl)imines A are readily formed from Schiff’s base condensation of 2-iodoanilines with carbonyls and ketals. These imines provide useful substrates in scaffold-divergent synthesis through the attachment of an alkyne (Songashira coupling or acyl substitution of a Weinreb amide) followed by an iodonium-induced reaction cascade to give ring-fused indoles B, quinolines C, or quinolones D depending on the reaction conditions employed.