Phosphazenomalonates as Catalysts and Reactants in (4+3) Annulation to Acrolein

Org Lett. 2019 Jun 21;21(12):4464-4468. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.9b01292. Epub 2019 Jun 7.

Abstract

The concept of combining a catalyst and an activated center in one molecule was implemented in Michael donors functionalized with phosphazene units. First, the phosphazene group catalyzes Michael addition and then acts as a reactant in an intramolecular aza-Wittig reaction. The viability of this strategy was demonstrated by our development of a one-pot method for azepane core construction starting from functionalized azides, triphenylphosphine and acrolein.