Cu(I)-catalyzed one-pot decarboxylation-alkynylation reactions on 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines and one-pot synthesis of triazolyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines

•Short chained alkynes can be introduced without the need for gaseous reagents by using the corresponding alkynoic acids.•Alkynylations with alkynoic acids work in good yields independent of the chain length and protecting group of the substrate.•A three step cascade of decarboxylation, alkynylation, and click reaction was developed using the same catalyst, namely CuCl.

A facile and efficient method to introduce alkyne groups to the C-1 position of biologically interesting 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines via direct CH-functionalization is reported. Various alkynylated N-substituted 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines could be obtained by using copper(I)-chloride as catalyst, alkynoic acids as alkyne source and t-BuOOH as oxidant, in a one-pot two-step decarboxylation- alkynylation reaction in moderate to high yields. Furthermore, a one-pot protocol of a three-step decarboxylation-alkynylation-1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction leading to 1-triazolyl-tetrahydroisoquinolines was developed, a hitherto unknown reaction cascade.

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