The utility of indium in aqueous medium radical reactions.

Indium-mediated radical reactions proceed in the absence of toxic tin hydride, providing a new carbon-carbon bond-forming method in aqueous media. Herein, the results of experiments to probe the utility of indium as a radical initiator in reactions in aqueous media are reported. The indium-mediated tandem reactions also proceed smoothly via two carbon-carbon bond-forming processes for the preparation of various types of functionalized cyclic compounds.