An efficient Selectfluor-mediated condensation of indoles and anthranilates for the synthesis of indoloquinazolinones.

Intermolecular fluorocyclization of indoles with anthranilates, which proceeded smoothly to give diverse indoloquinazolinone architectures under mild reaction conditions, has been developed. A wide range of substrates were compatible with this cyclization system. The synthetic fluorinated compounds could be modified by their conversion to various substituted quinazolinones for drug discovery. In addition, this protocol has been applied to the concise total synthesis of bioactive natural alkaloids phaitanthrins A-B, cephalanthrin A and cruciferane.