Palladium-Catalyzed Cascade Approach to 12-(Aryl)indolo[1,2-c]quin­azolin-6(5H)-ones

A straightforward one-pot approach to the synthesis of challenging 12-arylindolo[1,2- c ]quinazolin-6(5 H )-ones is described. Starting from readily available o -( o -aminophenylethynyl)trifluoroacetanilides, palladium-catalyzed aminoarylation of the triple bond with ArI, ArBr, and ArN 2 + BF 4 – is followed by cyclization of the resulting N -trifluoro­acetyl-2-( o -aminophenyl)-3-aryl indole. This sequential reaction provides the title compounds by means of a rare elimination of trifluoromethane.