Gold Carbenes from Substituted Propargyl Acetates: Intramolecular Ene-type Reactions to 2-Acetoxynaphthalene Derivatives

Abstract

A new Au-catalyzed cascade reaction was developed for the conversion of propargylic acetates 1 to benzannulated products 2 in good to excellent yields. The gold catalyst is involved in generating intermediate A and in the ene-type reaction of intermediate B for the formation of product 2 (see scheme).