Regiocontrolled Annulation of Benzocyclobutenols with Alkynes

Org Lett. 2022 Apr 29;24(16):3058-3063. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.2c01023. Epub 2022 Apr 15.

Abstract

A tandem reaction that involves an unprecedented Rh-catalyzed intramolecular annulation of benzocyclobutenols with alkynes and subsequent ZnCl2-promoted dehydration was developed, offering an efficient approach to 2H-furan-, pyran-, and oxepine-fused naphthalenes. Furthermore, the 2H-furan motif may undergo a ring-opening reaction through Fe-catalyzed reductive C-O bond cleavage. As a consequence, the formal intermolecular annulation of 2-hydroxybenzocyclobutenols with alkynes was realized with complete regioselectivity through a two-step protocol.