Boyarskaya, Dina V.Ongaro, AlbertoPiemontesi, CyrilWang, QianZhu, Jieping2022-10-102022-10-102022-10-102022-09-1910.1021/acs.orglett.2c02860https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/191410In the presence of TiCl3, the reductive cyclization of tetrasubstituted enol esters bearing a 2-(ortho-nitroaryl) substituent affords 3-acyloxy-2,3-disubstituted indolenines in good yields. A domino process involving the partial reduction of nitro to a nitroso group followed by 5-center-6π electrocyclization, 1,2-acyloxy migration, and the further reduction of the resulting nitrone intermediate accounts for the reaction outcome. The so-obtained indolenines are converted smoothly to 2,2-disubstituted oxindoles via a sequence of saponification and semipinacol rearrangement.text::journal::journal article::research article