Silver triflate and palladium acetate co-catalyzed reaction of N'-(2-alkynylbenzylidene)hydrazide with N-allyl ynamide.

A silver triflate and palladium acetate co-catalyzed reaction of N'-(2-alkynylbenzylidene)hydrazide with N-allyl ynamide is described, which generates 2-amino-H-pyrazolo[5,1-a]isoquinolines in good to excellent yield. The transformation proceeds with high efficiency through 6-endo cyclization, [3 + 2] cycloaddition, 3,3-sigmatropic rearrangement, and aromatization.