Palladium-catalyzed carbo-heterofunctionalization of alkenes for the synthesis of oxindoles and spirooxindoles.

A palladium-catalyzed oxidative carbo-heterofunctionalization of aniline derivatives involving concomitant direct C-H functionalization and C-X bond formation was developed. By simply changing the reaction conditions (solvent and catalyst), either 3,3'-disubstituted oxindole or spirooxindole was accessible from the same starting material.