Gold(I)-Catalyzed Cycloisomerizations and Alkoxycyclizations of ortho-(Alkynyl)styrenes

Indenes and related polycyclic structures have been efficiently synthesized by gold(I)-catalyzed cycloisomerizations of appropriate ortho-(alkynyl)styrenes. Disubstitution at the terminal position of the olefin was demonstrated to be essential to obtain products originating from a formal 5-endo-dig cyclization. Interestingly, a complete switch in the selectivity of the cyclization of o-(alkynyl)-α-methylstyrenes from 6-endo to 5-endo was observed by adding an alcohol to the reaction media. This allowed the synthesis of interesting indenes bearing an all-carbon quaternary center at C1. Moreover, dihydrobenzo[a]fluorenes can be obtained from substrates bearing a secondary alkyl group at the β-position of the styrene moiety by a tandem cycloisomerization/1,2-hydride migration process. In addition, diverse polycyclic compounds were obtained by an intramolecular gold-catalyzed alkoxycyclization of o-(alkynyl)styrenes bearing a nucleophile in their structure. Finally, the use of a chiral gold complex allowed access to elusive chiral 1H-indenes in good enantioselectivitiesMinisterio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) and FEDER (CTQ2010-15358 and CTQ2013-48937-C2-1-P) and Junta de Castilla y Leon (BU237U13) for financial support. A.M.S. thanks the Junta de Castilla y Leon (Consejeria de Educacion) and the Fondo Social Europeo for a PIRTU contract. M.A.R. and P.G.-G. thank MEC for a "Young Foreign Researchers" (SB2009-0186) contract and MINECO for "Juan de la Cierva" contract, respectivelyThis is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Sanjuán, A. M., Rashid, M. A., García-García, P., Martínez-Cuezva, A., Fernández-Rodríguez, M. A., Rodríguez, F. and Sanz, R. (2015), Gold(I)-Catalyzed Cycloisomerizations and Alkoxycyclizations of ortho-(Alkynyl)styrenes. Chem. Eur. J., 21: 3042–3052. doi: 10.1002/chem.201405789, which has been published in final form at 10.1002/chem.201405789. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archivin

P III /P V =O Catalyzed Cascade Synthesis of N‐Functionalized Azaheterocycles

© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim An organocatalytic method for the modular synthesis of diverse N-aryl and N-alkyl azaheterocycles (indoles, oxindoles, benzimidazoles, and quinoxalinediones) is reported. The method employs a small-ring organophosphorus-based catalyst (1,2,2,3,4,4-hexamethylphosphetane P-oxide) and a hydrosilane reductant to drive the conversion of ortho-functionalized nitroarenes into azaheterocycles through sequential intermolecular reductive C−N cross coupling with boronic acids, followed by intramolecular cyclization. This method enables the rapid construction of azaheterocycles from readily available building blocks, including a regiospecific approach to N-substituted benzimidazoles and quinoxalinediones