Reaction Steps
Sodium hydride (60% dispersion in mineral oil, 51 mg, 1.3 mmol) was added to a solution of tert-butyl 8,10-dichloro-1,4,5,6-tetrahydroazepino[4,5-b]indole-3(2H)-carboxylate (0.30 g, 0.84 mmol) in DMF (5 mL). After 25 min, β-bromophenetole was added (0.23 mL). The reaction was quenched with saturated aqueous NH4Cl after 18 h and extracted with EtOAc (3×15 mL). The combined organic extracts were washed with brine, dried over Na2SO4, decanted, and concentrated. The crude product was purified by column chromatography (Biotage, 40S) with heptane/EtOAc (9:1) to give 0.36 g (90%) of a white solid: mp 131.5-133.0° C.; 1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3) δ 7.04 (d, J=1.7 Hz, 1H), 6.94 (t, J=7.4 Hz, 1H), 6.77 (m, 2H), 4.41 (m, 2H), 4.16 (m, 2H), 3.76 (m, 2H), 3.65 (m, 2H), 3.45 (m, 2H), 3.11 (m, 2H), 1.48 (s, 9H); IR (diffuse reflectance) 2974, 2929, 1691, 1600, 1496, 1459, 1413, 1393, 1365, 1348, 1303, 1243, 1170, 1114, 754 cm−1; MS (EI) m/z 474 (M+), 420, 419, 418, 417, 344, 334, 332, 57, 56; Anal. Calcd for C25H28Cl2N2O3: C, 63.16; H, 5.94; N, 5.89; found: C, 63.19; H, 5.99; N, 5.89.
