Indoles are familiar for their manifold biological activities among which oxindoles draw special attention from pharmacological view-point. A green synthetic procedure has been developed to synthesize 3,3-di(3-indolyl)-2-oxindoles and 3-indolyl-3-hydroxy oxindoles using bismuth nitrate pentahydrate as catalyst under microwave irradiation in water. The procedure is equally effective for diversely substituted indoles and isatins. A plausible mechanistic pathway has also been suggested. The method offers several advantages including high yield of the products, shorter reaction time, easy experimental workup procedure as well as environmentally benign route. The excellent yield of the reaction is believed to be the result of a synergistic effect of the Lewis acid catalyst (bismuth nitrate pentahydrate) and microwave irradiation.

Microwave-assisted bismuth nitrate pentahydrate catalyzed novel entry toward 3,3-di(3-indolyl)-2-oxindoles and 3-indolyl-3-hydroxy oxindoles

246th National Meeting (2013)

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