Dc. Reuter et al., SNAR REACTIONS OF BENZALDIMINES - A CONCISE SYNTHESIS OF SUBSTITUTED PHENANTHRIDINES, Tetrahedron letters, 35(28), 1994, pp. 4899-4902
Halogenated benzaldimines react with dilithiated N-Boc-aniline derivat
ives to yield biaryl imines via a SNAr reaction. Mild hydroysis of thi
s imine then allows cyclization to the substituted phenanthridine. Ext
ension of this reaction to a variety of N-Boc-anilines and imines was
explored.