Gold-Catalyzed Atom-Economical Cascade Reactions of Alkynes for Ring Formation

Abstract

The development of cascade reactions is an area of considerable interest in modern organic chemistry. Recent advances in homogeneous gold catalysis have opened up further possibilities for atom-economical cascade reactions for efficient synthesis of complex target molecules. We have been involved in the development of cascade reactions based on the activation of carbon-carbon triple bonds by a gold catalyst to facilitate intra- and intermolecular nucleophilic attack. Quite recently, we succeeded in forming gold carbenoids, which are useful intermediates for further elaborations, from ynamides. This account describes our efforts towards the development of gold-catalyzed cascade reactions for atom-economical synthesis of fused carbazoles, naphthalenes, dihydropyrazoles/indazoles, and indoloquinolines.