Ruthenium-Catalyzed Isoquinolone Synthesis

Wang et al. have reported the ruthenium-catalyzed isoquinolone synthesis through C—H activation. According to their results, the regioselective oxidative annulation reaction proceeds by the treatment of N-methoxybenzamides with alkynes in the presence of a catalytic amount of dichloro(p-cymene)ruthenium(II) dimer to give the desired isoquinolone products in high yields. This method has attracted much attention because it can be performed under mild conditions and applied to a wide range of substrates.