Graphene‐Oxide‐Catalyzed Cross‐Dehydrogenative Coupling of Oxindoles with Arenes and Thiophenols

Here, we explore the GO‐catalyzed cross‐dehydrogenative coupling of oxindoles with arenes and thiophenols for the rapid synthesis of 3‐aryloxindoles and 3‐sulfenylated oxindoles. Control experiments and small‐molecule mimicking studies reveal that the acidic nature and quinone‐type functionalities of GO are synergistically utilized for the coupling reaction. The reaction proceeds under simple and mild reaction conditions, exhibits good functional group tolerance, and can be easily scaled up to the gram level.