Gold-catalyzed ketene dual functionalization and mechanistic insights: divergent synthesis of indenes and benzo[d]oxepines

An unprecedented gold-catalyzed ketene C=O/C=C bifunctionalization method has been developed. Mechanistic studies and density function theory(DFT) calculations indicate that the reaction is initiated by gold-catalyzed Wolff rearrangement of diazoketone to form the ketene intermediate, followed by intermolecular nucleophilic addition and terminated with two divergent cyclization processes via enol intermediates. In the case with alcohols as the nucleophiles, the reaction goes through a C-5-endodig carbocyclization to give the indene products; whereas, O-7-endo-dig cyclization occurs dominantly when indoles/pyrroles are used as the nucleophiles, delivering the 7-membered benzo[d]oxepines. In comparison with the well-documented cycloaddition and nucleophilic addition reactions, this cascade reaction features a novel reaction pattern for the ketene dual functionalization through addition with nucleophile and electrophile in sequence.     

Gold(I)-Catalyzed Bis-Cyclization of Allenynes for the Synthesis of Strained and Planar Polycyclic Compounds

A gold-catalyzed cascade cyclization of naphthalene-tethered allenynes gave strained fused phenanthrene derivatives. The reaction proceeds through the nucleophilic reaction of an alkyne with the activated allene to generate a vinyl cation intermediate, followed by arylation with a tethered naphthalene ring to form the 4H-cyclopenta[def]phenanthrene (CPP) scaffold. When using aryl-substituted substrates on the alkyne terminus, the gold-catalyzed reaction produced dibenzofluorene derivatives along with the CPP derivatives. Selective formation of CPP and dibenzofluorene derivatives depending on the reaction conditions is also presented.     

Gold-catalyzed reactions of 2-alkynyl-phenylamines with alpha,beta-enones

[reaction: see text] The gold-catalyzed reaction of 2-alkynyl-phenylamines with alpha,beta-enones represents a new general one-pot entry into C-3-alkyl-indoles by sequential reactions. Gold-catalyzed sequential cyclization/alkylation, N-alkylation/cyclization, or N-alkylation/cyclization/alkylation reactions leading to different indoles can be directed by changing the 2-alkynyl-phenylamine 1/alpha,beta-enone 3 ratio and the reaction temperature. Unusual gold-catalyzed rearrangement reaction of indoles are observed at 140 degrees C. New gold-catalyzed formation of propargyl-alkyl ether under mild conditions and the hydration reaction of N-acetyl-2-ethynyl-phenylamine are reported.     

One-pot synthesis of indole-fused scaffolds via gold-catalyzed tandem annulation reactions of 1,2-bis(alkynyl)-2-en-1-ones with indoles

The gold-catalyzed tandem cyclization of 1,2-bis(alkynyl)-2-en-1-ones with indoles offers an efficient and straightforward route to indole-fused polycyclic systems. The process is realized through a cascade carbonyl-yne cyclization/Friedel-Crafts/indole-yne cyclization sequence catalyzed by a single-pot catalyst of gold.     

Direct synthesis of fused indoles by gold-catalyzed cascade cyclization of diynes

A direct, concise, and atom-economical synthetic method for the generation of fused indoles, using a gold-catalyzed cascade cyclization of diynes, has been developed. The reaction gave various fused indoles, such as aryl-annulated[a]carbazoles, dihydrobenzo[g]indoles, and azepino- or oxepinoindole derivatives in good to excellent yields, through an intramolecular cascade 5-endo-dig hydroamination followed by a 6- or 7-endo-dig cycloisomerization, without producing theoretical byproduct. Three of the resulting indoles exhibited potent antifungal activities against T. mentagrophytes and T. rubrum, demonstrating the practical application of the described cascade reaction for drug discovery.     

Advancements in Gold-Catalyzed Cascade Reactions to Access Carbocycles and Heterocycles: An Overview

This review summarizes recent developments (from 2006 to 2022) in numerous important and efficient carbo- and heterocycle generations using gold-catalyzed cascade protocols. Herein, methodologies involve selectivity, cost-effectiveness, and ease of product formation being controlled by the ligand as well as the counter anion, catalyst, substrate, and reaction conditions. Gold-catalyzed cascade reactions covered different strategies through the compilation of various approaches such as cyclization, hydroarylation, intermolecular and intramolecular cascade reactions, etc. This entitled reaction is also useful for the synthesis of spiro, fused, bridged carbo- and heterocycles.     

“Golden” Cascade Cyclization to Benzo[c]-Phenanthridines

Herein, we describe a gold-catalyzed cascade cyclization of Boc-protected benzylamines bearing two tethered alkyne moieties in a domino reaction initiated by a 6-endo-dig cyclization. The reaction was screened intensively, and the scope was explored, resulting in nine new Boc-protected dihydrobenzo[c]phenanthridines with yields of up to 98 %; even a π-extension and two bidirectional approaches were successful. Furthermore, thermal cleavage of the Boc group and subsequent oxidation gave substituted benzo[c]phenanthridines in up to quantitative yields. Two bidirectional approaches under the optimized conditions were successful, and the resulting π-extended molecules were tested as organic semiconductors in organic thin-film transistors.     

Recent applications of gold-catalyzed cascade reactions in total synthesis of natural product

From the point of the view of the synthetic efficiency, the concept ‘step economy’ was required in total synthesis of natural product. Recently, versatile gold-catalyzed cascade reactions have been developed, and relating reports on practical applications in total synthesis has increased. This digest focuses and summarizes the gold-catalyzed reaction cascades in natural product synthesis during last five years with brief discussion on the reaction mechanism of the key gold-catalyzed cascade transformations.     

Gold-catalyzed cascade cyclization-oxidative alkynylation of allenoates

A gold(I)-catalyzed cascade cyclization-oxidative cross-coupling process has been applied to prepare β-alkynyl-γ-butenolides directly from allenoates and various terminal alkynes. Following an initial gold-catalyzed C-O bond forming allenoate cyclization, a mechanism based on a Au(I)/Au(III) redox cycle has been proposed with Selectfluor acting as the external oxidant.     

Access to electron-rich arene-fused hexahydroquinolizinones through a gold-catalysis-initiated cascade process

Golden Cascade: With a tethered, electron-rich arene as the internal nucleophile, a gold-catalyzed amide cyclization to an alkyne initiates a cascade process that ends with a Ferrier rearrangement. Electron-rich arene-bearing hexahydroquinolizin-2-ones are formed in good yields and can be converted into indole alkaloids in only a few steps.     

Divergent synthetic routes for ring expansion or cyclization from 1,4-allylic diol derivatives via gold(I) catalysis or zinc(II) mediation

A new efficient method was developed to transform cyclic alkanols into one-carbon higher homologated ketones using various esters as the leaving groups through gold-catalyzed allylic cation-promoted pinacol-type rearrangement. This reaction, coupled with oxy-Cope rearrangement, provided a new strategy to synthesize five-carbon homologated ring ketones. In addition, using ZnBr(2), 2,5-dihydrofuran products were obtained in moderate to good yields via an intramolecular cyclization process.     

Gold-catalyzed deoxygenative nazarov cyclization of 2,4-dien-1-als for stereoselective synthesis of highly substituted cyclopentenes

Treatment of 2,4-dien-1-als with allylsilanes and PPh(3)AuSbF(6) (3 mol %) led to formation of 1,4-bis(allyl)cyclopentenyl products; this gold catalyst is superior to commonly used Lewis acids according to catalyst screening. Such gold-catalyzed deoxygenative cyclizations are compatible with various oxygen-, amine-, sulfur-, hydrogen-, and carbon-based nucleophiles. The value of this new catalysis is demonstrated by the diverse annulations of 2,4-dien-1-als with electron-rich alkenes and arenes, providing an easy access to complicated cyclopentenyl frameworks. Structural analysis of annulation products reveals evidence for the participation of Nazarov cyclization. This deoxygenative cyclization is extensible to a tandem intramolecular cyclization/nucleophilic addition cascade, giving polycyclic carbo- or oxacyclic compounds with controlled stereochemistry. This new gold catalysis is applied to a short synthesis of natural compounds of the brazilane family, including brazilane, O-trimethyl-, and O-tetramethyl brazilane.     

Gold-catalyzed cascade cyclizations of 1,6-diynyl carbonates to benzo[b]fluorenes involving arylation of oxocarbenium ion intermediates and decarboxylative etherification

Rearranged: The described gold-catalyzed cycloisomerizations give access to highly substituted benzo[b]fluorenes under mild reaction conditions (see scheme). Experimental results indicate that the in?situ formed oxocarbenium ion intermediates, derived from gold-catalyzed 3,3-rearrangement and 6-endo-dig cyclization, undergo intramolecular arylation and subsequent decarboxylative etherification to furnish the final ether products.     

Gold-catalyzed three-component annulation: efficient synthesis of highly functionalized dihydropyrazoles from alkynes, hydrazines, and aldehydes or ketones

Polysubstituted dihydropyrazoles were directly obtained by a gold-catalyzed three-component annulation. This reaction consists of a Mannich-type coupling of alkynes with N,N'-disubstituted hydrazines and aldehydes/ketones followed by intramolecular hydroamination. Cascade cyclization using 1,2-dialkynylbenzene derivatives as the alkyne component was also performed producing fused tricyclic dihydropyrazoles in good yields.     

Gold-catalyzed assembly of heterobicyclic systems

We have described an efficient gold-catalyzed double cyclization of 1,5-enynes to afford a range of heterobicyclic compounds, including oxabicylclo[3.2.1]octenes, azabicyclo[3.2.1]octenes, oxaspiro[5.4]decene, azaspiro[5.4]decene, oxaspiro[5.5]undecene, oxabicyclo[4.3.0]nonene, azabicyclo[4.3.0]nonene, and oxabicyclo[4.4.0]decene. The mechanism of this reaction is proposed to involve a chemoselective gold-based alkyne activation, carbocyclization, intramolecular nucleophilic addition, followed by protodemetalation. The most notable aspect of this process is the efficient and diastereospecific interception of the reactive intermediate of the initial 6-endo-dig (or 5-endo-dig) cyclization with either oxygen- or nitrogen-based nucleophiles.     

Gold-catalyzed cyclization of (Z)-2-en-4-yn-1-ols: highly efficient synthesis of fully substituted dihydrofurans and furans

[reaction: see text] The gold-catalyzed cyclization of (Z)-enynols offers an efficient and straightforward route to stereodefined (Z)-5-ylidene-2,5-dihydrofurans and fully substituted furans under extremely mild reaction conditions. Importantly, the results indicated that both the oxyauration and the proto-demetalation steps are highly stereoselective.     

Room temperature Au(I)-catalyzed exo-selective cycloisomerization of acetylenic acids: an entry to functionalized gamma-lactones

A highly efficient gold-catalyzed cyclization reaction of various functionalized acetylenic acids is described. The cyclizations are conducted in the presence of Au(I) catalyst in acetonitrile at room temperature in a short reaction time. The reaction conditions are compatible with several functional groups, such as ester, alkene, alkyne, chloro, and free or protected alcohol, and lead to original gamma-lactones in good to excellent yields.     

Gold-catalyzed highly efficient access to 3(2H)-furanones from 2-oxo-3-butynoates and related compounds

[reaction: see text] The gold-catalyzed cyclization reactions of 2-oxo-3-butynoic esters or disubstituted-1,2-diones with a variety of nucleophiles are described, which offer an efficient and straightforward route to substituted 3(2H)-furanones under mild reaction conditions. The Au(III) catalysts are also highly effective in the hydration of these activated alkynes.     

Au(i)-catalyzed and iodine-mediated cyclization of enynylpyrazoles to provide pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridines

Pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridines and 6-iodopyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridines were synthesized by gold-catalyzed and iodine-mediated cyclization of enynylpyrazoles in good to excellent yields, respectively. The iodinated adducts were further converted to 6-arylpyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridines via Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction and 6-cyanopyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine by Ullmann condensation reaction. One of the cyclization adducts, 2-(4-fluorophenyl)pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine, was converted to a p38 kinase inhibitor, 2-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-(4-pyridinyl)pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine, in two steps.     

A Conia-Ene-Type Cyclization under Basic Conditions Enables an Efficient Synthesis of (−)-Lycoposerramine R

An enantioselective total synthesis of the Lycopodium alkaloid lycoposerramine R is presented. It relies on a base-mediated cyclization that resembles the Conia-ene reaction of ynones and gold-catalyzed variants thereof. Thus, hydrindanones and other functionalized ring systems bearing an exocyclic alkene can be rapidly accessed at room temperature without noble metal catalysis or substrate preactivation.