Sequential Au(I)-catalyzed reaction of water with o-acetylenyl-substituted phenyldiazoacetates

• Lei Zhou,
• Yizhou Liu,
• Yan Zhang and
• Jianbo Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2011, 7, 631–637, doi:10.3762/bjoc.7.74

• )-catalyzed reaction of water with o-acetylenyl-substituted phenyldiazoacetates provides 1H-isochromene derivatives in good yields. The reaction follows a catalytic sequence of gold carbene formation/water O–H insertion/alcohol-alkyne cyclization. The gold(I) complex is the only catalyst in each of these

• steps. Keywords: alkyne; carbene O–H insertion; cyclization; diazo compounds; gold catalysis; 1H-isochromene; Introduction Transition metal carbene complexes are versatile intermediates and can undergo diverse transformations, including X–H (X = C, O, S, N, etc.) insertions, cyclopropanations, ylide

• /cyclization cascade by reacting water with o-acetylenyl-substituted phenyldiazoacetates. The reaction affords 1H-isochromene derivatives in good yields (Scheme 1) [31]. Results and Discussion At the onset of this investigation, o-acetylenyl-substituted phenyldiazoacetate 1a was selected as the model substrate