Switchable synthesis of natural-product-like lawsones and indenopyrazoles through regioselective ring-expansion of indantrione

Lawsones and indenopyrazoles are the prevalent structural motifs and building blocks in pharmaceuticals and bioactive molecules, but their synthesis has always remained challenging as no comprehensive protocol has been outlined to date. Herein, a metal-free, ring-expansion reaction of indantrione with diazomethanes, generated in situ from the N-tosylhydrazones, has been developed for the synthesis of lawsone and indenopyrazole derivatives in acetonitrile and alcohol solvents, respectively. It provides these valuable lawsone and pyrazole skeletons in good yields and high levels of diastereoselectivity from simple and readily available starting materials. DFT calculations were used to explore the mechanism in different solutions. The synthetic application example also showed the prospects of this method for the preparation of valuable compounds.