Annulation of enaminones with quinonediimides/quinoneimides for selective synthesis of indoles and 2-aminobenzofurans

The annulation reactions of enaminones with quinonediimides/quinoneimides for the selective synthesis of indoles and 2-aminobenzofurans have been realized. With Zn(II) catalysis, quinonediimides reacted with enaminones to give indoles via HNMe2-elimination-based aromatization. With Fe(III) catalysis, the reactions of quinoneimides with enaminones provided 2-aminobenzofurans via a key dehydrogenative aromatization.