A novel and efficient synthesis of 2-bromo(chloro)-3-selenyl(sulfenyl)indoles through tandem reactions of 2-(gem-dibromo(chloro)vinyl)-N-methylsulfonylanilines with diselenides and disulfides in the presence of t-BuOLi and I2 (10 mol%) in DMSO was developed. The reactions generated the desired products in good yields with high regio-selectivity under transition-metal-free conditions in one-pot.
