Palladium-catalyzed intramolecular tandem cyclization reactions were conducted for the synthesis of densely cis/cisfused aza-tetracydic structures. The process involved a palladium(II)-catalyzed aerobic aza-Wacker reaction, followed by a palladium(0)-catalyzed Heck reaction. The effects of the solvent and benzene substitution pattern on the one-pot, two-step cascade reaction were studied systematically, and a probable mechanism was proposed. Strained pentahydrobenzo[f]cyclopenta[hdindolizin-6-one and racemic gamma-lycorane can also be synthesized rapidly using this palladium-catalyzed aza-Wacker-Heck cyclization reaction.
