A rhodium-catalyzed regioselective C7-functionalization of indazoles without any substituent at the C3-position has been achieved. The removable
N,
N-diisopropylcarbamoyl directing group proved crucial for both C7-regioselecivity and conversion. Good to excellent yields were observed with acrylates, vinyl phenyl sulfones, and electron-neutral olefins (styrenes). The reaction could conveniently be scaled up to a gram scale, thus highlighting the robustness and practicality of this transformation. More information can be found in the Communication by
Xianhua Pan, Lanting Xu et al. on
page 289 in Issue 3, 2017 (DOI:
10.1002/asia.201601456).