Hypothesis-Driven Palladium-Catalyzed Transformations for the Construction of New Molecular Architectures.

The development of new synthetic protocols to access diverse molecular scaffolds from readily available starting compounds is of significance in both academia and industry. Towards this, the catalysis by transition metals has been employed as a powerful tool to access molecules with broad structural and functional diversity. An overview of the recent literature manifested the tremendous potential of transition metal-catalyzed processes in advancing organic synthesis in a new direction. This account compiles new conceptual advancements in the palladium-catalyzed Alder-ene type cycloisomerization reactions, C-H functionalizations, and one-pot multicatalytic processes, which have become essential tools to access new classes of molecules.

Ring-Opening/Recyclization Cascades of Monoactivated Cyclopropanes.

A variety of cyclopropyl aryl ketones undergo uncatalyzed cascade ring-opening/recyclization reactions to generate indenones and fluorenones. In addition, a new strategy to access 3-hydroxyindanones possessing two contiguous stereogenic centers, one of them being an all-carbon quaternary center, was also established. During the course of the investigation, pronounced solvent, temperature, and substituent effects on the product distribution were discovered.

Beyond the Corey-Chaykovsky Reaction: Synthesis of Unusual Cyclopropanoids via Desymmetrization and Thereof.

Desymmetrization-based protocols for the synthesis of highly functionalized indeno-spirocyclopropanes and cyclopropa-fused indanes have been established through unexpected reactions triggered by the Corey-Chaykovsky reagent. These structures were further elaborated in one step to privileged scaffolds such as fluorenones, indenones, and naphthaphenones. For instance, an acid-catalyzed transformation of indeno-spirocyclopropanes provided fluorenones via a homo-Nazarov-type cyclization, and naphthaphenones were obtained via an acid-catalyzed cyclopropane ring-opening/retro-Michael sequence.

Synthesis of Cyclopropanoids via Substrate-Based Cyclization Pathways.

A series of unexpected reactions triggered by the dimethyloxosulfonium methylide led to the discovery of unconventional approaches for the synthesis of cyclopropa-fused tetralones and indeno-spirocyclopropanes. These highly functionalized structures were further elaborated in one step to privileged scaffolds such as tetralones, indenones, and fluorenones. As a whole, the results presented herein establish new diversity-oriented folding pathways.

One-Pot Multicatalytic Approaches for the Synthesis of Cyclohepta[b]indoles, Indolotropones, and Tetrahydrocarbazoles.

Diversity oriented one-pot synthesis of cyclohepta[b]indoles, indolotropones, and tetrahydrocarbazoles (THCs) have been reported. Readily accessible 3-(2-aminophenyl)-5-hexenyn-3-ols under a one-pot trimetallic orthogonal catalysis furnish tetrahydrocyclohepta[b]indoles, and a one-pot quadruple reaction sequence of the enynols generates dihydrocyclohepta[b]indoles and indolotropones. During this study, formation of THCs was realized to be a reason for the yield loss in certain cases, this observation led to the development of a one-pot bimetallic approach for the synthesis of 1,3-disubstituted THCs.

One-Pot Trimetallic Relay Catalysis: A Unified Approach for the Synthesis of ß-Carbolines and Other [c]-Fused Pyridines.

A divergent strategy is presented for the synthesis of 1,3-di- and 1,3,4-trisubstituted ß-carbolines through an unprecedented one-pot triple-orthogonal-metal relay catalysis, and 1,3-disubstituted 4-hydroxy-ß-carbolines through a one-pot bimetallic relay catalysis from readily accessible 3-(2-aminophenyl)-5-hexenyn-3-ols. These strategies were elaborated to enable the synthesis of benzofuro[2,3-c]pyridines, benzothieno[2,3-c]pyridines, and isoquinolines, which otherwise require multistep synthesis.