Metal‐Free Iodine‐Catalyzed Oxidative Dehydrogenation of N‐Heterocycles

Abstract A general and straightforward iodine‐catalyzed oxidative dehydrogenation system of saturated five and six‐membered N‐ heterocycles for the synthesis of N ‐heteroarenes is investigated. In this protocol, a series of indole, (iso)quinoline, β ‐carboline analogues could be achieved respectively under metal‐free, additive‐free and external‐oxidant‐free conditions in moderate to good yields with broad functional groups compatibility. Preliminary mechanistic investigations support that DMSO plays dual roles as the solvent and the oxidant source in the transformation. The current synthetic strategies can be utilized as the efficient handle to elaborate natural products.