Abstract
2,2-Diaryl-1,2-dihydro-3H-indol-3-ones (2a-2j) have been synthesized via singlet oxygenation of 2-arylindoles (1a-1d), followed by acid-catalyzed nucleophilic substitution of the resulting 2-aryl-2-methoxy-1,2-dihydro-3H-indol-3-ones (3a-3d) with aryl nucleophiles in one pot in good yields.