Tandem Pd/Au‐Catalyzed Route to α‐Sulfenylated Carbonyl Compounds from Terminal Propargylic Alcohols and Thiols

An efficient and highly atom‐economical tandem Pd/Au‐catalyzed route to α‐sulfenylated carbonyl compounds from terminal propargylic alcohols and thiols has been developed. This one‐step procedure has a wide substrate scope with respect to substituents at the α‐position of the alcohol. Both aromatic and aliphatic thiols generated the α‐sulfenylated carbonyl products in good to excellent yields. A mechanism is proposed in which the reaction proceeds through a Pd‐catalyzed regioselective hydrothiolation at the terminal triple bond of the propargyl alcohol followed by an Au‐catalyzed 1,2‐hydride migration.     

Gold(I)‐Catalyzed Selective Heterocyclization of Propargylic Thioureas: Mechanistic Study of Competitive Gold‐Activation Mode

A new selective gold(I)‐catalyzed intramolecular heterocyclization of propargylic thioureas has been developed, efficiently affording two kinds of cycloadducts in moderate to excellent yields with a broad substrate scope. Further mechanistic investigations indicate that competitive different gold activation modes feature in these cyclization processes. Kinetic experiments reveal that the gold activation mode is influenced by the ligand of the gold catalyst and the reaction conditions.     

Regioselective Dihalohydration Reactions of Propargylic Alcohols: Gold‐Catalyzed and Noncatalyzed Reactions

The regioselective conversion of propargylic alcohols into previously unreported α,α‐diiodo‐β‐hydroxyketones was achieved by treatment with N‐iodosuccinimide in the presence of a gold catalyst. The corresponding α,α‐dichloro‐β‐hydroxyketones were obtained by treatment with trichloroisocyanuric acid in the absence of a catalyst. The latter reaction can be extended to other alkynols. These transformations can be used to prepare potentially useful halogenated building blocks. Preliminary mechanistic studies suggest that the reaction involves participation of the acetonitrile solvent in the formation of a 5‐halo‐1,3‐oxazine intermediate.     

Pd‐Catalyzed Carbonylative α‐Arylation of Aryl Bromides: Scope and Mechanistic Studies

Reaction conditions for the three‐component synthesis of aryl 1,3‐diketones are reported applying the palladium‐catalyzed carbonylative α‐arylation of ketones with aryl bromides. The optimal conditions were found by using a catalytic system derived from [Pd(dba)₂] (dba=dibenzylideneacetone) as the palladium source and 1,3‐bis(diphenylphosphino)propane (DPPP) as the bidentate ligand. These transformations were run in the two‐chamber reactor, COware, applying only 1.5 equivalents of carbon monoxide generated from the CO‐releasing compound, 9‐methylfluorene‐9‐carbonyl chloride (COgen). The methodology proved adaptable to a wide variety of aryl and heteroaryl bromides leading to a diverse range of aryl 1,3‐diketones. A mechanistic investigation of this transformation relying on ³¹P and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy was undertaken to determine the possible catalytic pathway. Our results revealed that the combination of [Pd(dba)₂] and DPPP was only reactive towards 4‐bromoanisole in the presence of the sodium enolate of propiophenone suggesting that a [Pd(dppp)(enolate)] anion was initially generated before the oxidative‐addition step. Subsequent CO insertion into an [Pd(Ar)(dppp)(enolate)] species provided the 1,3‐diketone. These results indicate that a catalytic cycle, different from the classical carbonylation mechanism proposed by Heck, is operating. To investigate the effect of the dba ligand, the Pd⁰ precursor, [Pd(η³‐1‐PhC₃H₄)(η⁵‐C₅H₅)], was examined. In the presence of DPPP, and in contrast to [Pd(dba)₂], its oxidative addition with 4‐bromoanisole occurred smoothly providing the [PdBr(Ar)(dppp)] complex. After treatment with CO, the acyl complex [Pd(CO)Br(Ar)(dppp)] was generated, however, its treatment with the sodium enolate led exclusively to the acylated enol in high yield. Nevertheless, the carbonylative α‐arylation of 4‐bromoanisole with either catalytic or stoichiometric [Pd(η³‐1‐PhC₃H₄)(η⁵‐C₅H₅)] over a short reaction time, led to the 1,3‐diketone product. Because none of the acylated enol was detected, this implied that a similar mechanistic pathway is operating as that observed for the same transformation with [Pd(dba)₂] as the Pd source.     

Bifunctional Ligand Enables Efficient Gold‐Catalyzed Hydroalkenylation of Propargylic Alcohol

Using the previously designed biphenyl‐2‐ylphosphine ligand, featuring a remote tertiary amino group, the first gold‐catalyzed intermolecular hydroalkenylation of alkynes has been developed. Synthetically valuable conjugated dienyl alcohols are formed in moderate to good yields. A range of alkenyltrifluoroborates are allowed as the alkenyl donor, and no erosion of alkene geometry and/or the propargylic configuration are detected. DFT calculations confirm the critical role of the remote basic group in the ligand as a general‐base catalyst for promoting this novel gold catalysis with good efficiency.     

Gold‐Catalyzed Intermolecular Addition of Carbonyl Compounds to 1,6‐Enynes: Reactivity,Scope, and Mechanistic Aspects

A full account of a recently discovered gold(I)‐catalyzed reaction, a cycloaddition of carbonyl compounds to enynes yielding 2‐oxabicyclo[3.1.0]hexanes with four stereogenic centers, is presented. The reaction proceeds with very high diastereoselectivity. The scope of the reaction has been investigated. In addition, experiments and DFT calculations concerning mechanistic aspects were carried out. The reaction course varies with the substitution pattern of the alkene moiety of the starting enyne. Branched olefins led to 2‐oxabicyclo[3.1.0]hexanes; terminally substituted olefins proceeded with the incorporation of two carbonyl components to give hexahydrocyclopenta[d][1,3]dioxines.     

Gold(I)‐Assisted α‐Allylation of Enals and Enones with Alcohols

The intermolecular α‐allylation of enals and enones occurs by the condensation of variously substituted allenamides with allylic alcohols. Cooperative catalysis by [Au(ItBu)NTf₂] and AgNTf₂ enables the synthesis of a range of densely functionalized α‐allylated enals, enones, and acyl silanes in good yield under mild reaction conditions. DFT calculations support the role of an α‐gold(I) enal/enone as the active nucleophilic species.     

Enantioselective Palladium‐Catalyzed Oxidative β,β‐Fluoroarylation of α,β‐Unsaturated Carbonyl Derivatives

The site‐selective palladium‐catalyzed three‐component coupling of deactivated alkenes, arylboronic acids, and N‐fluorobenzenesulfonimide is disclosed herein. The developed methodology establishes a general, modular, and step‐economical approach to the stereoselective β‐fluorination of α,β‐unsaturated systems.     

Metal‐Triflate‐Catalyzed Synthesis of Polycyclic Tertiary Alcohols by Cyclization of γ‐Allenic Ketones

It has been established that bismuth(III) triflate catalyzes the cyclization of γ‐allenic ketones under mild reaction conditions. This reaction allows the selective formation of polycyclic tertiary alcohols from cyclic ketone derivatives. The resulting dienols can engage in stereoselective cycloadditions to efficiently afford complex polycyclic systems.     

Iridium‐Catalyzed β‐Alkynylation of Aliphatic Oximes as Masked Carbonyl Compounds and Alcohols

An Ir‐catalyzed C(sp³)?H alkynylation of aliphatic ketones, aldehydes, and alcohols was achieved by using the corresponding oxime derivatives and a Ir^III catalyst. This general reaction is selective towards primary C(sp³)?H bonds and can be used for the late‐stage C?H alkynylation of complex molecules.     

The Mechanism of Gold(I)‐Catalyzed Hydroalkoxylation of Alkynes: An Extensive Experimental Study

An extensive experimental study of the mechanism of gold(I)‐catalyzed hydroalkoxylation of internal alkynes has been conducted by using NMR spectroscopy. This study was focused on the organogold intermediates, observations of actual catalytic intermediates in situ, and the reaction kinetics that are involved in this reaction. Based on the experimental results, a complete mechanistic picture was established, including on‐ and off‐cycle processes that explain the role of diaurated species. We have shown that gold‐catalyzed hydroalkoxylation of internal alkynes is a reaction that requires only one gold atom for the catalytic cycle, disproving a recent hypothesis regarding the involvement of cooperative gold catalysis.     

Gold‐Catalyzed Sequential Cyclization of 1‐En‐3,9‐Diyne Esters to Partially Hydrogenated 3H‐Dicyclopenta[a,b]naphthalenes

A synthetic method that relies on a gold(I)‐catalyzed cycloisomerization of 1‐en‐3,9‐diyne esters to spiro[4.4]non‐2‐ene‐substituted 1,2‐dihydronaphthalenes is described. Robust with a wide variety of substitution patterns tolerated, the reaction provides the first example of a one‐step strategy to construct such novel and architecturally challenging members of the carbocycle family in good to excellent yields. A mechanism is proposed in which the sequential cycloisomerization pathway was thought to involve a gold‐catalyzed 1,3‐acyloxy migration/Nazarov cyclization followed by a formal [4+2] cycloaddition to give the tetracarbocyclic product.     

Divergent Gold(I)‐Catalyzed Skeletal Rearrangements of 1,7‐Enynes

The gold(I) complex catalyzed cycloisomerization and skeletal rearrangement of 1,n‐enynes (n=5–7) is a powerful methodology for the efficient synthesis of complex molecular architectures. In contrast to 1,6‐enynes, readily accessible homologous 1,7‐enynes are largely unexplored in such transformations. Here, the divergent skeletal rearrangement of all‐carbon 1,7‐enynes by catalysis with a cationic gold(I) complex is reported. Depending on electronic and steric factors, differently substituted 1,7‐enynes react via different carbocations formed from a common gold carbene intermediate to yield on the one hand novel exocyclic allenes and on the other hand tricyclic hexahydro‐anthracenes through a novel dehydrogenative Diels–Alder reaction.